The Homewood-Flossmoor High School Board of Education on Tuesday approved a three-year contract with support staff.
The 55 clerical and support staff members will receive 2 percent raises each of the three years and increased insurance coverage for the contract extending to June 30 2018, according to Jodi Bryant, director of human resources.
The district settled a three-year contract with its teachers in May providing a 2.7 percent salary increase with teachers picking up more of the insurance expenses.
In both negotiations, Bryant said the district used an interest-based negotiations model that she learned in training sessions at Harvard University. This style of negotiation has put aside the rancor that was typical of past contract talks.
In other business, the district renewed its agreement in the 127-member School Employees Loss Fund (SELF) that covers workers compensation claims. H-F High helped create the pooled insurance group in 1986. Its current bill is $96,795.
The district’s payment to SELF dropped by almost $30,000, according to Ken Parchem, business manager. He said part of the savings was a result of the district closing out a loss fund, but nearly a third, or about $10,000 of that reduction, was due to the district’s outstanding record of reduced claims the past three years.
On advice of legal counsel, the board approved two new policies. One outlines when a student can be assigned to alternative school. Principal Ryan Pitcock said the reasons can be anything from being deficient in credits to causing damage to property.
The board also adopted a policy that spells out when a student can be denied participation in graduation or other social events. Fines can be imposed for anything from not returning books to being delinquent on payments. Superintendent Von Mansfield said there are families that are delinquent by substantial amounts.
“We are trying to be as efficient as possible,” he said.
In some cases, families have their children enrolled at H-F even though they live outside the boundaries. They may move into the district at some point in the student’s H-F career, but the family would still owe tuition for the months they were not legal residents. Tuition is approximately $8,500 per semester.
