Batavia District 101 teachers union says it will pack tonight’s meeting over ‘eroding trust’

Teachers, staff and community members are expected to wear red and pack tonight’s Batavia School District 101 board meeting to address allegations of eroding trust, inadequate communication and lack of authentic collaboration, the Illinois Education Association announced in a news release.

The union wants to make a show of support for officials’ recommitment to partner with the Batavia Education Association – the teachers union – in trying to address a lack of progress, according to the release.

“We want to shed light on these issues, so we can work together to resolve them,” BEA member Sarah Barrett said in the release.

“The administration and the BEA crafted a joint statement committing to address these problems, but we want to make sure the community and board know what’s going on. These issues impact all our stakeholders,” Barrett said in the release. “That’s why this joint acknowledgement of the shortcomings in the district and recommitment to moving forward together is so important.”

In an emailed statement, Board President Craig Meadows wrote that the school board and administrative team “are excited about the renewed commitment to collaboration with the Batavia Education Association (BEA).”

“This collaboration will foster a stronger, more unified community. We are optimistic that addressing trust and communication issues together will create an even better educational environment for our students and staff,” according to Meadows’ email. “Much of the feedback received during developing the strategic plan draft centered around collaboration. We look forward to utilizing the strategic plan as the kick-off to an expanded collaborative model.”

The teachers union and administrators created a joint agreement acknowledging several issues that impact students’ learning conditions and educators’ working conditions, according to the release.

These are:

• Dominance of top-down approaches instead of collaborative decision-making, undermining teacher input particularly in School Leadership Team and School Improvement Plan executions.

• Eroded trust, inconsistent application of the collective bargaining agreement and disrespect negatively impact the workplace.

• Unclear roles and responsibilities among committees like Curriculum Assessment Advisory Council and School Leadership Team create operational inefficiencies.

• Continuous stagnation in addressing these concerns.

“We have been here before, pulling up our chairs to the table,” BEA President Todd Swanson said in the release.

“The pervasiveness of the lack of progress in resolving these issues and moving us all forward together has been missing,” Swanson said in the release. “We are cautiously optimistic that this time is going to be different as we work together to ensure our working conditions allow for the best learning conditions for our students.”

The Batavia Education Association represents 423 teachers and other certified staff, such as reading specialists, psychologists and counselors. The eight-school district has almost 5,100 students.

The school board meeting is at 7 p.m. at Batavia High School, 1201 Main St., Batavia, and also livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/@BataviaPublicSchoolDistrict101/streams