Lake Forest High School will remain open but busses will not run and attendance will not be required until Sept. 17, according to a letter sent to parents today by the Board of Education.
The building will be open from 7:50 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and lunch will be available, according to the letter. “The building will remain open as a safe, supervised, and supportive environment for all students,” the Board said in the letter.
The letter was silent about bus service after the first three days. There will be no impact on the college application process. The letter also indicated the strike plan will focus on negating the impact of a work stoppage on learning.
“The school calendar will be reconfigured to reduce the total number of teacher work days without losing student instruction days,” the Board said in the letter. “The strike plan is … designed to keep students engaged in meaningful educational opportunities.”
Attendance will be required on the fourth day of a strike, most likely Sept. 17, according to the letter. In addition to the college application process, the resource center will be staffed for students needing academic support and extra-curricular activities will continue.
“Most athletic participation (including contests and games) and many extra-curricular activities will continue,” the Board said in the letter.
which makes provisions for practice, as long as experienced coaches are present, but not games. The City of Chicago, which could experience a teachers’ strike as early as Monday, has asked the IHSA for an exemption so contests can take place.
The IHSA is scheduled to make its ruling at a board meeting Monday, according to IHSA Communications Director Matt Troha. “The board has never granted an exception,” he said. He also told Patch Lake Forest has not made an application.
Representatives of the Board the the Lake Forest Education Association met Thursday for two hours and did not reach an agreement. The Board suggested meeting Monday while the union proposed Tuesday.
"We're still waiting to hear," Board President Sharon Golan told Patch today.
For more news and updates from Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch, subscribe to our daily e-newsletter, ”Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Teachers please respond why you think you should be treated like stars and have to pay for your insurance. Lindsay Lohan is asking the president to lower taxes on all the Hollywood stars - when did LF teachers become Hollywood Stars?
@rude Lynette is NOT a representative of the typical LF resident. My family supports the teachers.
The school board's position regarding the two offers: http://www.lfhs.org "The Board of Education's proposal includes a competitive average annual increase in compensation of 3.6 percent." "When the salary step cost, base salary increase, stipends, and interest payments, are added together, the LFEA is proposing annual salary increases of 5.6%, 6.5%, and a final year increase of between 4.76-6.57%" "The Board of Education is disappointed in both the LFEA’s action in publicly releasing their proposal and in the proposal itself. We feel that the LFEA proposal is highly irresponsible in the current economic environment and that it is inconsistent with current market conditions."
http://www.lfhs.org/board/LFHS_BOE_Proposal.pdf "District Teacher Compensation Comparatives In regard to teacher compensation, in August of 2012 the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Lake Forest High School’s 2011-2012 teacher salaries were among the highest in the state. (See chart.) • LFHS Beginning Bachelor and Beginning Masters salaries ranked in the top 2% • LFHS Top Masters and Highest Salary ranked in the top 1% Additionally, in November of 2011, the Chicago Tribune reported that Lake Forest High School had the SECOND HIGHEST AVERAGE TEACHER SALARY in the state of Illinois. While this is due to a combination of teacher experience, education, and salary schedule compensation, it highlights the fact that the district has been able to attract, retain, and reward an educated and experienced staff."
http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/5679128-418/illinois-teacher-and-administrator-salaries.html?appSession=783319304496226 Look up the administrations salary, honestly if the board can afford to pay our ineffective Athletic Director that amount of money the question is "WHY NOT THE TEACHERS?" The deans are making double teacher salaries...maybe the board should start at the top?
- LFHS Student P.S. @solution ** Waukegan
I agree that administrative salaries are too high and the administrator headcount is also too high. I hope the board visits that issue in the future and as most of the administration does not benefit from tenure, I hope some are let go. Having said that, the immediate issue at hand is the teacher contract as it appears the SEIU backed teachers are poised to abandon their posts in 36 hours and join the Chicago Public school teachers on the strike line. This is the issue that needs our immediate attention, not sideshows and distractions. I wish all parties would bargain in good faith but it appears the teachers want more and are unwilling to bend to the economics of reality. As for LFHS student that says taxpayers are not involved and have no say and this is between the board, the teachers, and the students so all others should butt out, I would beg to disagree and hope you learn to increase your world view before you leave the safe, leafy environs of LFHS. Good luck to all.
As for what will happen if Obama is elected, we will all go bankrupt.
oh and @Lynette Paulson- step into our teachers shoes for one period and know that it's hard handling 25-35 teenagers. Have you sat in a classroom full of 17 year old's lately? Probably not.
Contention 2: I have often found teachers at the school as late as 8:00, always willing to discuss or help Contention 3: "My kids have always said how almost every teacher they have had are fast, lazy, rude, and not willing to slow down if other students don't get the material." Well, then. Wow. Hold the phone. You mean to say a child was dissatisfied with a teacher? A teenager complain? No. I bet he said this after receiving a stellar grade, right? Contention 4: Mitt Romney won't touch the teacher's unions with a 10 foot pole. The economy works in favor of small interest groups (Econ 101).
(Really just LFHS teachers trying to prove their point.) Every student this week are completely against the teachers. Although the days off are nice. I competely agree with Lynette's comments. Most teachers obviously make enough as it is, considering their salaries compared to their IL counterparts. I've had plenty of teachers complain about how hard being a teacher is. They stress how hard it is to wake up at 6, talk to a bunch of teenagers for a few hours, leave at 4, and possibly do an hours worth of mindless grading work at home. I always want to point out to these teachers that my own father wakes up at 4, works all day, and hopefully makes it home in time for dinner around 8. Not to mention he works year round and gets only two weeks off a year. Obviously for the sake of my grades I don't speak up, but nonetheless want to tell them to take a step into the real world. There's plenty of people working harder who deserve more, but aren't selfish enough to run to their unions. They'd rather work for their money. Maybe there are some teachers who are caring, loved by the students, and not to forget hardworking and effective, but the students can honestly say that they are the minority. Bill Murray's line from Ghostbusters after being fired from teaching and working a real job pretty much sums it up, "You don't know what it's like in the real world; they expect results!" Basically, if you want people to work for their money, VOTE REPUBLICAN. -LFHS Student
(Really just LFHS teachers trying to prove their point.) Every student this week are completely against the teachers. Although the days off are nice. I competely agree with Lynette's comments. Most teachers obviously make enough as it is, considering their salaries compared to their IL counterparts. I've had plenty of teachers complain about how hard being a teacher is. They stress how hard it is to wake up at 6, talk to a bunch of teenagers for a few hours, leave at 4, and possibly do an hours worth of mindless grading work at home. I always want to point out to these teachers that my own father wakes up at 4, works all day, and hopefully makes it home in time for dinner around 8. Not to mention he works year round and gets only two weeks off a year. Obviously for the sake of my grades I don't speak up, but nonetheless want to tell them to take a step into the real world. There's plenty of people working harder who deserve more, but aren't selfish enough to run to their unions. They'd rather work for their money. Maybe there are some teachers who are caring, loved by the students, and not to forget hardworking and effective, but the students can honestly say that they are the minority. Bill Murray's line from Ghostbusters after being fired from teaching and working a real job pretty much sums it up, "You don't know what it's like in the real world; they expect results!" Basically, if you want people to work for their money, VOTE REPUBLICAN. -LFHS Student