Dist. 211 board expected to ratify support staff contract today

Today's vote by the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 school board over the support staff contract could have a familiar ring.

That's because the two-year contract proposal mirrors the pact agreed to in November with the teachers.

The support staff consists of 288 employees, including clerical staffers and student supervisors, said Assistant Superintendent for Finance David Torres.

The increases match the base pay the board approved during the contentious labor talks between teachers which ended in November. The talks almost led to a strike.

Tonight's vote is slated to take place at 5:30 p.m. at the district's offices during a special board meeting in Palatine.

For the 2007-08 year the support staff would receive a 3.25 percent increase in base salary with a 0.7 percent lump-sum for insurance costs, Torres said. For the second year 2008-09, the increase would depend on the Consumer Price Index-All Urban, or CPI-U, which measures the rate of inflation set by the federal government. Analysts project that number will hover around 3 percent. The second year staff will get a lump sum of 1.2 percent, Torres added.

Torres reiterated the use of CPI-U would allow the salaries to be tied into the money the district was generating through tax dollars.

Board secretary Anna Klimkowicz predicts her board will vote the same way. In November, the teachers contract was approved 5 to 2, with Klimkowicz and fellow board member Bill Lloyd casting the dissenting votes.

"We extended the budget line item more than 3 percent," she said. "I just can't support that."

Klimkowicz said she will vote against the agreement, using the same rationale she did when voting against the teachers contract. She said by granting employees base-salary increases of more than 3 percent, that the school board wasn't properly spending money generated by a 2005 tax increase approved by voters. The money, school officials said, was needed to stop program cuts to sports and other extracurricular.

At the time before voters approved the referendum, Klimkowicz said the community was told the board would hold tight on employee raises.