Tentative contract agreement in Cahokia (Ill.) district

From The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: A contract dispute that has already delayed classes at the Cahokia (Ill.) school district appears close to resolution. The school board and teachers union have reached a tentative deal on a contract. Teachers are scheduled to vote on the plan next week. The school district had been scheduled to open classes this week, but officials pushed back the start date until after Labor Day.

Earlier...from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The 4,200 students in the Cahokia (Ill.) School District will get two additional weeks of summer break because the district does not have a contract agreement with teachers. After the union representing 500 district employees rejected a contract offer, the school board announced that the start of school has been delayed until Sept. 6. Starting school only to have teachers strike would be too detrimental to students, Superintendent Art Ryan says. Dave Comerford, a spokesman for the union, says districts often begin classes while contract negotiations are under way, and the union has not indicated that it plans to strike. He said it's the first time in his more than 15 years with the Illinois Federation of Teachers that he's heard of a school district delaying the start of the school year because a union contract is unsettled.