Members of our community have reached out with questions and concerns regarding contract negotiations. To help everyone stay informed, we want to share more about how the negotiations process works and where things currently stand.
The District 97 Board of Education has contracts—known as collective bargaining agreements—with four employee associations (listed below with current contract dates):
- Oak Park Education Support Professionals (OPESP): 2023-2027
- Oak Park Teachers Association (OPTA): 2022-2024
- Oak Park Teachers Assistant Association (OPTAA): 2023-2027
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU): 2021-2025
Like all school districts and other organizations with unionized employees, our board regularly engages in a collective bargaining process to review, discuss, and negotiate agreements with each of our associations. The board and each association jointly determine what type of negotiation process to follow for each negotiation. Contracts typically last two to four school years.
Currently, we are in the process of negotiating a new multi-year contract with the OPTA. Both parties are working with a mutually agreed facilitator who guides the process and supports productive discussions.
The OPTA is affiliated with the Illinois Education Association (IEA) and National Education Association (NEA). The NEA website provides helpful information regarding the 5 Stages of Collective Bargaining and has made available to the public an overview document entitled, “Collective Bargaining: What It Is and How It Works.” Both of these resources explain the negotiations process in a clear and simple way.
In the context of our process with OPTA, we completed the first NEA Collective Bargaining Stage, "Preparing for Bargaining," in Fall 2023. We are currently engaged in the second stage, "Conducting Negotiations."
We hope that this information provides clarity and transparency about how the negotiations process works. We value our community’s interest, engagement and support of our schools.