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Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Following the Springfield Public Schools Board meeting Monday, we got a recap regarding contract negotiations and more with Superintendent Jennifer Gill on the WTAX Morning Newswatch with Will Stevenson.
John Hughes, father of 15-year-old Hannah Hughes who died by suicide in June, said to the school board that many students don’t have a good home life.
District 186 Superintendent Jennifer Gill explained that schools in the district try to help students and families by having a “crisis team ready to go at a moment’s notice, amazing programs within our schools, social workers, psychologists, BSS specialists, and teachers that have been trained on SEL. All of us together are willing to roll up our sleeves and say we are going to do anything for anybody who might need help.”
Gill also stated if a family is in need of anything, “Family and Community Engagement Liaisons are in every building. They are willing and ready to help get the basic needs met for any family or work with a family that may be struggling.”
Gill shared condolences for the family and assured the district is constantly thinking of ways to try to make things better.
Another topic of discussion were the impending negotiations between the District 186 School Board and teacher’s union.
Gill addressed some concerns, “We are at the table, we are in the spirit of making sure that we have this solved before the school year starts. We still have the month of August really to get things underway. Although we do start our paychecks August 1st, any salary increase is always retro paid back to that August 1st date so that nobody misses out on any salary point at all. We don’t want any interruption to the school year, and we want to make sure that we have a great contract to give to our teachers.”
Negotiators for the school district and the Springfield education association will meet with the federal mediator for the first time Tuesday, July 22.
Gill also explained that these negotiations are taking so long because it’s not as simple as increasing by a percentage. There are many teachers in the district that have started working there at different times and the goal is to represent everyone.
Gill says there are concerns over what could happen with federal and state funding in the future and predicting how much money will be received is difficult.