1.1 The Board of Education of St. Elmo Community Unit School District #202, in Fayette County, Illinois, hereinafter referred to as the Board, recognizes the St. Elmo Education Association, affiliated with the Illinois Education Association and the National Education Association, as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all certified contractual personnel except managerial, supervisory, and confidential employees excluded by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.

1.2 The Board agrees not to enter into contract negotiation in regard to hours, wages and working conditions with any individual, group or organization of teachers covered by this agreement, other than its duly elected representatives, for the duration of this agreement. Nothing herein shall preclude individuals or other organizations from presenting their views and recommendations to the Board or Administrative staff at any time.

*Any full-time teacher employed by District #202 at the time of recognition, who was later reduced to less than full-time, would remain in the recognized bargaining association.

ARTICLE II

NEGOTIATIONS PROCEDURES

2.1 Within seven working days following May 1 of the last year of the agreement, the initial meeting shall be held. The ground rules shall be established at this meeting. The Association and Board shall determine a mutually agreed upon date within thirty days of the initial meeting to meet and exchange their initial total package.

2.2 It is agreed that the parties will jointly request the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) if either party to this agreement declares impasse. Either party must declare an impasse a minimum of thirty days prior to the opening of the next school term. Should (FMCS) be unavailable, the parties shall immediately commence discussions as to a replacement. In the event that the parties cannot agree upon a replacement, the Illinois Education Labor Relation Board shall be notified in writing.

ARTICLE III

Grievance Procedure

3.1 Definitions - A grievance shall be:

3.1.1 Any written claim by the Association or any employee that there has been a violation, misrepresentation, misapplication of the terms of this agreement or of the Illinois School Code.

The association shall have the right to present grievances when a class action involves two or more members of the bargaining unit.

3.1.2 A grievance must be filed within 15 days of the occurrence of the event which gave rise to the grievance. The number of days indicated at each step in the procedure shall be considered as the maximum allowable to the parties and every effort shall be made to resolve the grievance as rapidly as possible. All time limits consist of school days, except where noted or when a grievance is submitted fewer than 10 days before the close of the current school term, then time limits shall consist of all week days.

3.2 Procedures - The parties hereto acknowledge that it is usually most desirable for an employee and the employee’s immediately involved supervisor to resolve problems through free and informal communication. If, however, the informal process fails to satisfy the employee or the association, a grievance may be processed as follows:

3.2.1 Step I - The employee or the association may present the grievance in writing to the immediately involved supervisor, who will arrange for a meeting to take place within 10 days after receipt of the grievance. The association’s representative, the grievant, and the immediately involved supervisor shall be present for the meeting. Within five days of the meeting, the grievant and the association shall be provided with the supervisor’s written response, including the reasons for the decision.

3.2.2 Step II - If the grievance is not resolved at Step I, then the association may refer the grievance to the Superintendent (or the Superintendent’s official designee) within fifteen days after receipt of the Step I answer. The Superintendent shall arrange with the association representative for a meeting to take place within ten days of the Superintendent’s receipt of the appeal. Each party shall have the right to include in its representation such witnesses and counselors as it deems necessary. Within five days of the meeting, the association shall be provided with the Superintendent’s written response, including the reasons for the decision.

3.2.3 Step III - If the grievance is not resolved at Step II, then it may be referred to the Board of Education within fifteen days after the receipt of the Step II answer. The Board of Education shall arrange with the association representative for a meeting to take place within ten days of the Board of Education’s receipt of the appeal. Each party shall have the right to include in its representation such witnesses and counselors as it deems necessary. Within five days of the meeting, the association shall be provided with the Board of Education’s written response, including the reasons for the decision. Any Step III grievance hearing conducted by the Board will be held during a special meeting by the Board within the time limits determined. The meeting will convene in open session and then enter into closed session as provided by Section XVIII of the Illinois Education Labor Act to hear the grievance. Any determination by the Board to refer a grievance directly to Step IV arbitration or any decision the Board reaches, if it hears a grievance, will be reported in written form within the time limits determined.

3.2.4 Step IV - If the grievance is not satisfactorily resolved at Step III, the grievance may proceed to binding arbitration. The Associate may submit to the Superintendent a written request on behalf of the association and the grievant to enter into binding arbitration. If a demand for binding arbitration is not filed within thirty days of receipt of the step III decision, then the grievance shall be deemed withdrawn.

Arbitration proceedings shall be conducted by an arbitrator to be selected by the two parties from a roster of arbitrators provided by the American Arbitration Association. Within seven days after the association requests binding arbitration, the two parties will request The American Arbitration Association to provide a panel of seven arbitrators. Each of the two parties will alternately strike one name at a time from the panel until only one name shall remain. The remaining name shall be the arbitrator, who shall comply with Voluntary Labor Arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Expenses for the arbitrator’s services shall be borne equally by the District and the association.

The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the parties. The arbitrator, in his opinion, shall not amend, modify, nullify, ignore, or add to the provisions of the agreement. The arbitrator’s authority shall be strictly limited to deciding only the issue or issues presented to him in writing by the district and the association, and his decision must be based solely and only upon his interpretation of the meaning or application of the express relevant language of the agreement and the Illinois State Code.

3.3 Bypass to Superintendent - If the association and the Superintendent agree, any step of the grievance procedure may be bypassed and the grievance brought directly to the next step.

3.4 Bypass to Arbitration - If the Superintendent and Association agree, a grievance may be submitted directly to arbitration.

3.5 Class Grievance - Class grievances involving two or more employees or one or more supervisors, and grievances involving an administrator above the building level may be initially filed by the Association at Step II, provided that the grievance presented pertains to the same Article or Section of the agreement or the Illinois School Code.

3.6 Board - Administration Cooperation - The Board and the Administration shall cooperate with the Association in the investigation of any grievance.

3.7 No Reprisals Clause - No reprisals shall be taken by the Board or the Administration against any employee because of the employee’s participation in a grievance.

3.8 Should the Arbitrator, during the investigation or processing of any grievance, require that an employee or an Association representative be released from their regular assignment, the employee or Association representative, shall be released without loss of pay or benefits.

3.9 Filing of Materials - All records related to a grievance shall be filed separately from the personnel files of the employees.

3.10 Grievance Withdrawal - A grievance may be withdrawn at any level without establishing precedent.

3.11 No Written Response - If no written response has been issued within the time limits indicated by a step, then the grievance will be moved to the next step. If grievant or association doesn’t meet time limit requirements, then the grievance will cease. Time limits may be extended by mutual agreement.

3.12 AAA Rules - At the mutual agreement of the parties, the Expedited Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association shall be used instead of the Voluntary Labor Arbitration Rules.

3.13 Cost of Arbitration - The fees and the expenses of the arbitrator shall be shared equally by the parties. The parties shall each be responsible for the costs of their own representation. If only one party requests the presence of a court reporter, that party shall bear the costs of the reporter. If only one party requests the postponement of an arbitration hearing, that party shall bear the costs of such postponement.

ARTICLE IV

EMPLOYEE AND ASSOCIATION RIGHTS

4.13 Fair Share – This language applies to all current employees except those with 5 or more years of service with St. Elmo School District #202 may continue their non-membership.

a. Each bargaining unit member, as a condition of his/her employment, on or before thirty (30) days from the date of commencement of duties or the effective date of this Agreement, whichever is later, shall join the Association or pay a fair share fee to the Association equivalent to the amount of dues uniformly required of members of the Association, including local, state and national dues.

b. In the event that the bargaining unit member does not pay his/her fair share fee directly to the Association by a certain date as established by the Association, the Board shall deduct the fair share fee from the wages of the non-member.

c. Such fee shall be paid to the Association by the Board no later than ten (10) days following deduction.

d. In the event of any legal action against the Employer brought in a court or administrative agency because of its compliance with this Article, the Association agrees to defend such action, at its own expense and through its own counsel, provided:

1. The Employer gives immediate notice of such action in writing to the Association and permits the Association intervention as a party if it so desires, and

2. The Employer gives full and complete cooperation to the Association and its counsel in securing and giving evidence obtaining witnesses and making relevant information available at both trial and all appellate levels.

e. The Association agrees that in any action so defended, it will indemnify and hold harmless the employer from any liability for damages and costs imposed by a final judgment of a court or administrative agency as a direct consequence of the Employer’s non-negligent compliance with this Article.

It is expressly understood that this save harmless provision will not apply to any claim demand, suit or other form of liability which may arise as a result of any type of willful misconduct by the Board or the Board’s imperfect execution of the obligations imposed upon it by this Article.

f. The obligation to pay a fair share fee will not apply to any Employee who, on the basis of a bonafide religious tenet or teaching of a church or religious body of which such Employee is a member or a belief sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious view, objects to the payment of a fair share fee to the Association. Upon proper substantiation and collection of the entire fee, the Association will make payment on behalf of the Employee to a mutually agreeable non-religious charitable organization as per Association policy and the Rules and Regulations of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.

4.2 The association shall have the following rights:

a. right to use the school mail system at the expense of the association

b. right to use the bulletin boards in the teacher’s lounges. No material may be posted

without the written approval of the building principal. If any material

posted is detrimental to any employee or the educational process, then the building principal

may order such material removed.

c. right to use all existing payroll deductions

d. right to the use of a designated room of adequate size. Arrangements with Building Administrators must be made in advance with no disruption of the normal school day. Any extra-ordinary expense incurred by the association through the use of school facilities will be its responsibility.

4.3 Authorized association representatives or delegates shall be granted leave to attend state or national association workshops, conferences, business meetings, or other sanctioned IEA/NEA activities:

a. The amount of leave taken shall not totally exceed five days per school year by all such authorized personnel. Also no one individual may exceed three days of authorized leave per school year. The association’s president shall provide a list to the Superintendent of eligible association members who will attend these meetings.

b. A written request for leave has been submitted to the Superintendent a minimum of five days in advance of the leave.

c. The association reimburses the District the cost of a substitute with no deduction from salaries.

4.4 The president of the association shall be given, at the same time as the media is notified, written notice of all regular and special meetings of the Board, together with a copy of the agenda.

4.5 One copy of all Open Session Board minutes shall be made available to the president of the association within seven days after the Board has approved the minutes of the previous meeting. One copy of all media releases will be given to the president at the time of release.

4.6 Copies of the nonratified contract will be provided to each member of the Board and teacher’s negotiating teams. The master copy of the ratified contract will be provided to the Board and association team members to have sufficient copies made for each group. All copies will be duplicated in the presence of a teacher and Board team member.

4.7 There will be no discrimination towards members of the association’s negotiating team, association members, or association officers.

4.8 The Board shall place the association on the agenda of any regular Board meeting under new business provided the association notifies the Board five working days in advance and state the purpose for addressing the Board. Also, one spokesperson is to be appointed by the association and the presentation is to be limited to a maximum of ten minutes.

4.9 By the opening of school the Superintendent will supply a copy of the Board Policy Book to each building principal, one copy for the Association President and keep a copy available in the unit office for interested citizens. The copies will be updated for revisions by sending copies of the revisions to each policy holder at the same time the Board members receive their copies. The copies remain the property of the school district and are to be returned by employees at the end of the school year or at the termination of employment.

4.10 An employee shall be given written notice of any change in his/her assignment for the coming year no later than August 1 preceding the new school term. In the event that late changes in such assignments are made, the employee affected shall be notified promptly.

4.11 Application for Waiver of School Code: The Board of Education shall notify the Association President in writing at least 30 days prior to the days the Board shall consider a waiver application of the School Code. The notice shall include the substance of the waiver application.

ARTICLE V

EMPLOYEE EVALUATION AND PERSONNEL FILES

Our purpose in Article V is to promote quality education and secure fairness for all parties involved in the educational process.

5.1 Probationary teacher evaluation - each probationary teacher shall be evaluated at least twice during each probationary year. These evaluations shall be in writing.

5.2 Tenured teacher evaluation - each tenured teacher shall be evaluated at least once every two years. These evaluations shall be in writing.

5.3 Notification - Before any formal evaluation takes place, the administrator shall acquaint each teacher with the teacher evaluation procedures and instruments. The teacher shall be notified of an impending evaluation at least one working day prior to the first evaluation.

5.4 Electronic devices - Electronic devices shall not be used in teacher evaluation.

5.5 Evaluator - Teachers shall be evaluated by school district administrators.

5.6 Written document - District administrators shall evaluate each teacher formally in writing.

5.7 Observation - Each formal written evaluation shall be preceded by at least one classroom observation of at least twenty consecutive minutes or a class period.

5.8 A copy of each formal written evaluation shall be given to the teacher upon request, and a conference shall be held between the teacher and the administrator within ten working days following the classroom observation.

5.9 Teacher’s written response - The evaluated teacher has the right to respond, in writing, to the evaluation with copies of the teacher’s response being presented to the evaluator and the Superin-

tendent. This response must be written and presented to the evaluator within ten working days after the conference. The teacher’s written response should be attached to the evaluation if requested by the teacher. These will both be placed in the personnel file.

5.10 In the event a formal evaluation requires school board action and a teacher has requested responses be attached to formal evaluations, then all formal evaluations and responses must be reviewed by the School Board.

5.11 Right to review personnel file - A file of all materials related to an employee shall exist at the unit office. Each employee shall have the right to review his file while in the presence of the Superintendent or his designate. The Superintendent shall be given prior notice. All evaluations shall be signed by the teacher prior to being placed in the personnel file. The signature does not indicate agreement with the content of the materials. The employee may not remove any materials from the premises of the unit office.

5.12 Reasonable cause - Demotion, discipline, or suspension concerning curricular assignments with or without pay shall be for reasonable cause.

ARTICLE VI

JOB SECURITY

6.1 Section 24-12 of the Illinois School Code shall be the basis for staff reduction.

6.2 In the event the Board should decide it is necessary to reduce the number of tenured teaching employees in the district, the association will be notified of such reduction in staff in advance of any public announcement.

6.3 The Superintendent shall submit a seniority list of all tenured teachers to the association at the beginning of each school year. The association shall have thirty days to review and verify this list. If no response is received in the thirty days, the list will become official.

ARTICLE VII

LEAVES OF ABSENCE

7.1 In the event that a teacher reaches his/her maximum accumulation of 340 sick leave days, the teacher will thereafter draw from his/her allotment for that current year. Accurate records of any unused days shall be kept by the Unit Office.

7.2 Leave for personal illness - Full time teachers are to be granted sick leave privileges of fifteen (15) days with pay each year and permissible accumulated time of 340 days. Sick leave shall be interpreted to mean personal illness, quarantine at home or serious illness in the immediate family or household. Note: Immediate family is interpreted to mean wife, husband, child, parent, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother or sister-in-law, son or daughter-in-law. The Board may require a physician’s certificate, or, if the treatment is by prayer or spiritual means, that of a spiritual practitioner of such person’s faith, as a basis for pay during leave after an absence of three days for personal illness, or as it may deem necessary in other cases.

Members of the bargaining unit may leave their assigned duties prior to the end of the teacher work day for the purpose of going to a doctor/dental appointment. This leave shall be for personal use or for members of the immediate family as defined in Article 7.2 of the teachers contract and without affecting the accumulated sick leave. The leave shall be granted under the following conditions:

· No more than 4 times per year. Exceptions to this can be made in unusual circumstances.

· Leave shall not exceed 60 minutes prior to the end of the teacher work day. Exceptions to this can be made in unusual circumstances.

· Must provide the administrator 24 hour notice, except for emergencies. The building principal shall make the necessary arrangements.

· Financial reimbursement shall be as per current contract language.

7.3 Personal leave - Four days of sick leave may be granted to each teacher, with the Administrator’s approval, for personal leave of an emergency nature. All four days of personal leave shall be at no cost to the teacher. Emergency can also mean personal business that cannot be conducted at any time other than the school day.

A personal leave of absence shall be requested at least three days in advance in writing other than emergency situations and cannot be the immediate day prior to or after a scheduled vacation or holiday or the first or last five student attendance days of the school year unless the Superintendent recognizes at his discretion a request for one day personal leave for non-reoccurring event such as a wedding or graduation of spouse, parent, child, grandchild, brother, or sister. Personal leave for emergency purposes may be granted at these times at the discretion of the Superintendent. All decisions of the Superintendent shall be final.

7.4.1 Maternity leave: (pregnancy - related disability) Leave of absence shall be requested in writing, subject to approval by the Board of Education and is leave without pay, following the use of accumulated sick leave, if requested by the teacher. The teacher will provide the Board a written doctor’s notice that as of a date the teacher will be unable to teach. The teachers’ physician shall be the determining factor as to the dates of the maternity leave.

7.4.2 An estimated date at which time the teacher will be able to return to teaching is also requested. Should the doctor decide to change, this is acceptable.

7.4.3 The Board will grant sick leave for days the doctor determines the teacher is unable to perform teaching duties. The teachers’ doctor must submit a determination in writing to the Board of Education. An employee who returns from parental leave shall be reinstated to the employees’ former position or its equivalent.

With a doctor’s written notice, a teacher may be granted sick leave for child rearing.

7.4.4 Adoption procedure: A teacher may, upon request, use accumulated sick leave for adoption. If additional days beyond accumulated sick leave are needed, the teacher may use the Family Medical Leave Act.

7.5 Each fall, the Superintendent will inform each teacher as to the amount of sick days which he/she has accumulated.

7.6 Bereavement leave: In addition to sick leave, each full-time teacher shall be allowed three days of absence per “death”, up to two (2) deaths per school year without loss of pay, when bereaved by the death of a member of the immediate family as defined in 7.2. Aunts and uncles shall also count for the purposes of this article.

7.6.1 Any additional time taken shall be deducted from any accumulated sick leave. If no sick leave is available, the teacher shall have the cost of the substitute deducted from their pay.

7.7 Professional conferences: Each teacher may request up to three days non-accumulative leave with full pay and reasonable expenses to attend professional conferences, meetings, or workshops. The Board of Education will consider each request.

7.8 Jury duty: The Board recognizes the need for the participation of employees in the judicial system. Teachers who are absent for jury duty for two days will receive their regular salary plus jury duty pay. Beyond two days, the teacher may be requested to have jury duty pay deducted from the day’s pay.

7.9 LEAVES OF ABSENCE WITHOUT PAY. The Board may grant a leave of absence without pay to any teacher at his/her request. All requests shall be in writing. The request shall have the reason for the leave and the dates leaving and returning clearly stated for Board consideration.

The following conditions shall apply to all one year leaves of absence unless otherwise indicated:

A. Request for leave shall be in writing.

B. Leaves shall be without pay.

C. Salary increments shall not accrue during the leave.

D. Sick leave days and other benefits shall not accrue during the leave.

E. Tenure status, accumulated sick leave and placement on the salary schedule shall be retained for the duration of the leave.

F. Requests shall be submitted to the Board for consideration by the regularly scheduled May Board meeting.

ARTICLE VIII

WORKING CONDITIONS

8.1 SCHOOL CALENDAR

Each school board shall annually prepare a calendar for the school term, specifying the opening and closing dates and providing a minimum term of at least 185 days to ensure 176 days of actual pupil attendance, computed under section 18-8 of the school code, provided that any days allowed by law for teachers’ institute but not used as such shall increase the actual days of pupil attendance by the number of days not so used; however, the board may not extend such term beyond such closing date unless such extension of term is necessary to provide such minimum number of computable days. The board may specify a closing date earlier than that set on the annual calendar when the schools of the district have provided the minimum number of computable days required.

8.2 The normal teaching load shall not exceed five and one-half (5 1/2) teaching hours at the elementary level, and seven (7) out of eight (8) periods at the high school and junior high school. Assignment to a supervised study period shall be considered a teaching period, for the purpose of this Article; however, the teacher’s schedule shall not exceed thirty-five (35) hours of pupil contact weekly. No secondary teacher shall have more than five (5) different subject matter preparations. The secondary teacher may volunteer for extra subject matter preparations. Article 8.2 is suspended in the event of the adoption of the Energy Contingency Plan as outlined in Appendix C. The teacher association will agree to a three year temporary agreement to pilot an incentive program similar to the “Hillsboro Model” effective August 2009-May 2012.

8.3 If a substitute teacher is not available, it may become necessary to assign a teacher a class or a portion of a class other than his/her own. If a teacher accepts this assigned class or portion of a class which requires him/her to forfeit his/her preparation period or which increases his/her normal class size, then this teacher will be compensated at the rate of 15 dollars per period. This does not apply to study hall.

8.4 Class size - any class size that reaches 26 enrolled shall be brought to the attention of the board by Superintendent and the Association President in writing. This shall apply to grades K - 4.

All final decisions on class size will be made by the Board.

8.5 The Board through the Superintendent and the Building Principals will notify in writing any changes in teaching assignments or regular supplemental assignments. Every reasonable effort will be made to provide all professional teaching employees with this information by the end of the current school year. In the event a change is made, every effort will be made to notify the teacher by August 1, unless an emergency arises. And if the change is not acceptable, the teacher will be permitted to request another assignment within two (2) weeks or resign in good standing, when a qualified replacement can be contracted.

8.6 Teachers leaving the school premises should be cleared with a building principal.

8.7 Teachers are considered to be on assignment from 7:45 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Exceptions to the teacher day will be allowed for emergency and severe weather situations, with dismissal time to be determined by administration. Teachers may leave after the last student has departed on Fridays.

8.8 Regional representatives are not to pass out leaflets, notices, or conduct Association business during the teacher day. This includes local and regional representatives and applies to all buildings and hallways. Local Association business would be permissible during lunch hours, before and after the above mentioned teacher day.

8.9 VACANCIES AND TRANSFERS. The Superintendent shall have posted in each school building and shall deliver to the Association a notice of all vacancies as they occur. Any teacher presently on tenure or eligible for continuing contractual status in the coming school term may apply for transfer to another position for which the teacher is qualified if there is an existing vacancy. Such application shall be in writing to the Superintendent.

8.10 Teachers shall have the option to decline going on a class trip provided a suitable replacement is found by the teacher and approved by the administration. All requests for release from trip duties shall be made in writing to the building principal by the end of the first quarter of the trip year.

8.11 Committee Participation

Participation on various committees shall be voluntary. It is understood that, from time to time

these committees may be scheduled to meet at times other than the normal working day.

8.12 Clarification of days: Unless specifically noted otherwise, all reference to “days” in the contract shall be interpreted to mean calendar days.

ARTICLE IX

SALARY AND FRINGE BENEFITS

9.1 All members of the bargaining unit covered by this Agreement shall be paid according to the salary schedule which will appear as Appendix A of this agreement. The salary amounts shown on that schedule will be divided into three categories, showing (1) base salary, (2) TRS and THIS contributions, and (3) combined base salary and TRS/THIS contributions which will represent the total salary of the teacher paid by the Board.

9.1.1 All new employees will be placed on the salary schedule based on their previous years of public

school experience.

9.2 Teachers shall have two (2) pay options:

A. Twenty (20) pay periods commencing the 15th of September and the 30th of September. Pay day will be on the same date each month following and should the pay date fall on a weekend or holiday, the paychecks will be prepared and available on the last day prior to that weekend or holiday.

B. Twenty-four (24) pay periods, the same conditions applying as in 9.2 A.

9.2.1 Direct Deposit: It is agreed that the district work with staff on direct deposit. All preparations and approvals shall be made by the teacher.

9.3 TRS - The Board paid 9.40% TRS payment shall be sent directly to the Teacher’s Retirement System on behalf of each teacher. This payment will be used toward the teacher’s legally required retirement contribution and shall not be considered as gross income to the teachers in computing the teachers’ income tax liability.

9.3.1 Teacher Health Insurance Security Fund Contribution (THIS) - The Board shall pay eighty-four hundredths of one percent (.0084) toward the Teachers’ required payment into THIS.

9.4 Extra Curricular Assignments

9.4.1 Pay for extra curricular assignments will be paid according to the pay schedule which will appear in Appendix B of this agreement. Payment choices may include 20 or 24 payments or a lump sum option at the conclusion of the assignment.

9.4.2 The Board will maintain its statutory requirements to increase or decrease supplemental assignments to meet the need of the student program.

9.4.3 The Board will not assign a new extra curricular assignment to a teacher without the consent of the teacher. This does not apply to roster-schedule duties that are assigned on that basis to provide supervision of activities such as chaperones, ticket work, and class sponsorships.

Teacher requests to be released from a regular assignment of extra duties will be considered. The release will be granted if a qualified replacement can be located without adding to staff. If no replacement can be found, the teacher will be required to continue that assignment. At the end of that assignment, the teacher will be released from that duty if it is their desire.

9.5 Section 125 Plan According to the authority granted under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, Employees who elect to participate may do so by completing the appropriate forms provided by St. Elmo Community School District #202.

The employee agrees to follow all the rules and regulations of the Internal Revenue Code regarding the sheltering of such contributions. The Board shall not be responsible for failure of the above plan to meet the writing, enforceability, etc. as determined by the Internal Revenue Code. Should any of the above be declared improper by an Internal Revenue Code ruling or opinion, that clause or portion thereof shall be deleted from this agreement to the extent it violated the ruling or opinion.

The Board shall pay for the initial writing of the Section 125 Plan, any amendments to the plan to maintain the legal status of the plan, and the yearly maintenance fees. Any additional fees for the insurance or annuity shall be born by the individual employees who participate in the plan.

9.5.1

Benefits

The plan shall include medical health insurance, an annuity option, or a cash option. The Plan shall be administered by the current Plan Administrator.

The St. Elmo Community Unit District #202 shall contribute $345 per month for the 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011 school year towards the Section 125 Plan of each full time employee. Part time employees shall be prorated.

The Board shall make medical insurance available to all teachers as contained in the Section 125 Plan on a pre-tax basis. Prior to any change in coverage or carrier of the presently existing insurance, the Association will be allowed to make recommendations to the Board concerning these changes.

The choice of tax sheltered annuities shall be limited to those from a list of mutually agreed upon by the parties.

9.6.1 Professional Improvement - To encourage and promote professional growth, all District teachers are urged to complete additional educational training, with the goal being attainment of a minimum of four semester hours of credit every three years. For purposes of fulfilling this professional growth objectives, teachers may complete either graduate or under-graduate courses in their teaching field or in a related educational field.

9.6.2 The teacher salary schedule provides higher salaries for increased educational training and this serves as an incentive for teachers to work toward advanced degrees in their teaching field. Graduate hours accepted by an accredited university or college which could count toward an advanced degree in the teaching field of the individual employee may be counted toward horizontal advancement of the salary schedule.

9.6.3 The Board will pay up to $80.00 per semester hour or actual cost if less for course or workshop,

up to 12 semester hours per year of approved and completed course work. Courses must be in a curricular area and apply towards a master’s degree in a teaching/curricular field. Courses leading towards a master’s degree in education administration or another educational field will be paid at $40.00 per semester hour. For reimbursement purposes, the teacher must obtain prior written approval of the Superintendent of Schools at least seven days prior to the starting date of the course. The individual must earn a grade of “A”, “B”. or “Pass”. Payment will be made in the next bill cycle following submission of the evidence of successful completion of the approved course. Only courses leading towards a masters degree or above will be considered for horizontal movement on teacher’s salary scale. No teacher will be forced to move backwards on the schedule.

9.6.4 A teacher with a master’s degree or master’s plus and with 23 years experience or more in the St. Elmo CUSD #202 shall receive a 1.5% Bonus in addition to the salary designated in the salary schedule. A teacher moving in a given year to step 28 will not be eligible to receive the bonus. Thus, years 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, and beyond will be eligible for the 1.5% bonus. At no time will this bonus reflect a salary increase of more than 6% over all for teachers that are affected by the bonus.

9.7 Other Economic Items

9.7.1 Agriculture Instruction -

The Agriculture teacher’s contract will be for ten months. Salary shall be calculated by dividing said teacher’s salary (Determined by the salary schedule) by nine and then multiplying by ten.

9.7.2 The band teacher will be required to produce a musical once every 3 years. A stipend of $550 will be paid to the band teacher for the production.

9.7.3 Retirement Bonus: The teachers who provide the district with an irrevocable letter of resignation or retirement, by August 1, effective in the current year shall go off the salary schedule and shall receive a 4.5% salary increase over the previous year’s TRS creditable earnings. The teacher then would not be eligible for any other bonus for their final year. In no case will the employee’s creditable earnings exceed six percent (6%) of the previous year.

9.7.4 Senior Class Trip – The board will agree to pay each sponsor $50 per day, per two sponsors prior to the trip. Any year that the sponsors feel a third chaperone is needed, the board will need to approve as needed.

ARTICLE X

EFFECT OF AGREEMENT

10.1 Complete Understanding - The terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement represent the full and complete understanding between the parties. For the life of this Agreement the parties waive any obligation to bargain collectively with respect to any subject or matter that may or may not have been known to both parties at the time this Agreement was negotiated and that any bargaining will be limited to a Successor Agreement unless both parties agree to negotiate a modification to the Agreement. Any modification of the terms and conditions of the Agreement shall be with the written mutual consent of the parties.

10.2 Individual Contracts - Any individual contracts or employment agreements shall reflect the terms and conditions of this agreement.

10.3 Savings Clause - Should any article, section, or clause of this Agreement be declared illegal by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that article, section, or clause shall be deleted from this Agreement to the extent that it violates the law. The remaining articles, section, and clauses shall remain in full force and effect.

10.4 No Strike - During the term of this agreement and any extension thereof, no employee covered by this agreement, nor the Association, nor any person acting on behalf of the Association shall ever or at any time engage in, authorize, or instigate any picketing, any recognition of any picket line at the School district’s premises, any strike, slowdown or other refusal to render full and complete services regularly provided to the District, or any activity whatsoever which would disrupt in any manner in whole or in part the operation of the School District.

10.5 Board Authority and Management Rights - It is the law of the State of Illinois that the determination and administration of school policy, the operation and management of the schools, and the direction of employees are vested exclusively in the Board. It is the duty of all employees to carry out the policies and regulations as stipulated by the Board. It is further understood and agreed that all functions, rights, powers or authority of the administration of the school district and the Board of Education which are not specifically limited by the express language of this Agreement are retained by the Board provided, however, that no such right shall be exercised so as to violate any of the specific provisions of this Agreement nor shall this provision operate to deprive an employee and/or the Association of any constitutional, statutory or regulatory right or benefit.

10.6 Term of Agreement - This Agreement shall be effective September 1, 2008 and shall continue in effect until August 31, 2011.

This Agreement is signed this ________ day of __________________, 2008.

In Witness Thereof:

For the St. Elmo Education Association for the St. Elmo Board of Education

_____________________________ _____________________________

President President

_____________________________ _____________________________

Secretary Secretary