By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current

Certified staff members in the Geneseo School District will be working on a three-year salary contract, beginning with the 2023-2024 school year in August.

Geneseo School Board members unanimously approved the contract which gives the teachers a 9 percent increase in their base salary the first year, with a 3.5 percent increase in each of the last two years of the agreement. The contract will be in effect through the 2025-2026 school year.

Melanie Henderson, who serves as Geneseo Education Association co-president with Kyle Morey said the State of Illinois has mandated a $40,000 starting salary at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, which compares with Geneseo’s new starting base salary of $42,000, an increase from $38,500 in the previous contract;.

Melanie Henderson said the recent teacher contract negotiations had been a “really good experience in working with the administration and school board. We were able to talk openly and frankly about what our members needed.”

“We also were able to remedy some existing discrepancies in salaries of staff from previous contracts, and we also were able to maintain the same level of health insurance coverage and benefits,” Henderson added.

In commenting about the agreement, Geneseo School Superintendent Adam Brumbaugh said, “The Board feels the new 3-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will better help the district attract and retain the best teachers in a time where there is a real teacher shortage.”

“We believe the contract is regionally competitive and in many areas will make us more attractive to prospective teachers than neighboring districts,” he said, and added, “The Board appreciated the way the Geneseo Education Association’s bargaining team negotiated with us. On multiple occasions we were able to collaboratively resolve conflicts and address concerns from both sides with the current contract.”