The Butler School District 53 Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Paul O'Malley are pleased to announce that the district has reached an agreement with the Oak Brook Education Association (OBEA) on a new three year contract for the teachers of District 53 for school years 2023-2026.
"The district is pleased with the end result of the new interest based collective bargaining agreement. The Board of Education spent a considerable amount of time in advance of these sessions evaluating the existing agreement, recognizing its shortcomings, and prioritizing measures to retain our District 53 teachers. We would like to thank the OBEA representatives for their professionalism and openness throughout the process," said Board of Education President Kavitha Neerukonda.
Key highlights of the agreement include:
- Negotiated 1-time teacher salary adjustment to restore salary equity between teachers with the same educational degree and years of District 53 experience credit.
- Streamlined and increased stipends for extramural sports coaches and performing arts sponsors to encourage more teachers to volunteer for extracurricular activity assignments.
- Removed contractual limitation regarding approval of online graduate coursework and increased maximum number of credit hours teachers can take with tuition reimbursement from six (6) to nine (9) credit hours per school year to provide greater flexibility for teachers to pursue professional development opportunities.
- Negotiated percentage salary increases rather than flat dollar increases to maintain competitive teacher salaries and higher potential career earnings as an incentive to attract and retain high quality teachers.
"The Oak Brook Education Association was pleased to ratify our new three-year Collective Bargaining Agreement. OBEA and the Butler 53 Board of Education came together with mutual interests and goals right from the start! We were able to collaboratively negotiate a contract that positively benefits our dedicated teachers. It was a great team effort," said Patti Meyer, President of OBEA.
The Board of Education ratified the agreement at its September 11, 2023 Regular Meeting, after the OBEA members voted to approve the agreement.
Butler School District 53 was represented by Board of Education President Kavitha Neerukonda, Vice President Craig Donnelly and Superintendent Dr. Paul O'Malley. The Oak Brook Education Association was represented by its leadership team consisting of Ellen Wozny, Patti Meyer, and Jill Vonnahme.