A new four-year contract for Galesburg teachers is finally in place. The Board of Education and members of the Galesburg Education Association approved by the pact Thursday.
The agreement ended a two week teachers strike. Classes will begin Friday, August 29.
Superintendent Bart Arthur said only about four of the 11 days students missed will need to be made up, and he said teachers and principals will field questions from students upon their return.
“Kids will have a lot of questions about it and it’s good to talk about it, but they also need to get going on the instruction so we are hoping we can answer questions quickly and then move on to instruction," Arthur said.
Even though a few days must be made up, Labor Day will still be observed as a holiday and classes will not be held Monday.
Arthur said further details about the contract will be released next week. He hoped the length of the deal will give both sides time to recover.
“I think that will allow us to do some culture and climate repair. There was a lot of distrust from both sides," Arthur said. "And I think it’s time we sit down and start working on making that better.”
He said the two sides might consider trying interest based bargaining in the future.
The school district spent more than 150 hours at the bargaining table with teachers since negotiations began in May.
