Tentative agreement reached in River Bend

By Samantha Pidde
Herald Staff Writer

November 07, 2008 10:57 am

— FULTON, Ill. — After months of negotiations, the River Bend School Board and the River Bend Education Association have reached a tentative agreement.
A mediation session was conducted Thursday at the River Bend District Office, 1110 Third St., Fulton, Ill. The meeting began at 4:30 p.m. and concluded 61⁄2 hours later.
“Both sides worked extremely hard last night to reach agreeable terms so the schools could remain open and we are pleased with the outcome,” said Superintendent Jane Bauer, adding, “We stayed last night until we got that job done.”
“It’s like a weight has been lifted off of our shoulders,” said Ann Engeman, a seventh-grade language arts teacher and member of the support committee for RBEA.
She said she knows the RBEA bargaining team worked hard on drawing up a counter proposal and on negotiations and she is happy the work paid off. Engeman said it was great to get the call informing her of the agreement.
Bauer was unable to discuss the specific terms of the tentative agreement. She said a joint statement between her and Nick Crosthwaite, president and chief negotiator of the RBEA, would be released later this morning.
“There wouldn’t be any winners if there was a strike. So I am glad that was averted,” said Bauer.