U46 budget hearing quiet following dueling letters

• Reprints

Updated: November 30, 2011 12:32AM

ELGIN — The School District U46 Board of Education invited district residents to comment on its proposed budget for the new school year, during a public hearing Monday at its regular board meeting. There were no comments.

Later in that session, board members had their own discussion on the district’s proposed 2011-12 budget. There were no questions.

Most of the discussion about what’s at play in that budget — namely, teacher pay — came at the end of last week in letters penned by U46 Superintendent Jose Torres and Elgin Teachers Association President Kathy Castle.

“In the next few days, teachers will be receiving their first pay check of the school year,” Torres wrote. “Unless you have qualified through additional education to move a lane, your check will be essentially the same as it was at the end of last year.”

That means no teacher “step” movements, which are pay raises based on their years of experience, the superintendent said in an email that went out to all employees last Wednesday, according to U46 spokesman Tony Sanders.

Days later, Castle fired back in an open letter posted Friday on theETA.org, “the members of the ETA have seen little evidence that the intent and values of our work are still honored and respected by the Board or the Administration.“

The proposed 2011-12 budget foresees U46 taking in $11 million more than it spends this school year, totaling $487.3 million in revenue. That income likely will continue to climb, the district has said — but expenditures likely will climb much more quickly.

And the budget already includes several unknowns, such as salaries (currently in negotiations) and state funding (currently $9.6 million behind).

But that’s not why teachers won’t see a step increase in their paychecks, according to Sanders.

That’s just a matter of state law: The district is required to maintain “status quo” during contract negotiations, Sanders said. It can’t change up class sizes or pay until an agreement is reached.

And the last contract included a freeze: ETA members agreed to forgo any step movement last year, he said.

At Monday’s meeting, the union president presented the school board with several letters from ETA members expressing concern the district isn’t acting by the “intention” of that agreement, according to Castle.

In his letter last week, Torres said, “If the parties negotiate step movement as part of a new contract for this school year, the board will make the necessary adjustments at that time,” Torres said.

“These are difficult economic times. Despite that, you continue to do your best to educate and support the district’s children. The board deeply appreciates that and is committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a bargaining agreement that is acceptable to all. “

The board is to vote on the budget Monday, Sept. 26.