Andrew Crim moved his family from one side of Midlothian to the other specifically so his children could attend schools in Forest Ridge Elementary School District 142.
So, at Tuesday’s school board meeting, Crim spoke of his admiration of both the school district and its superintendent, Paul McDermott.
Crim wanted to be assured that McDermott’s contract would be extended, as well as the district’s teachers who will begin their own contract negotiations next month.
“It’s important that staff knows who will lead them,” Crim said.
McDermott is in his second full year of a three-year contract and is currently in negotiations for a new one or an extension. Forest Ridge Education Association 142 Teachers Union and the Support Education Association union contracts will expire at the same time at the end of this year.
“It has been such a positive experience here,” Crim said afterward. “And a lot of that comes from the leaders, and I have spoken with Dr. McDermott several times and I am very impressed with what he has done. If you go into negotiations with the teachers union and you don’t know what the leadership will be, then there is uncertainty involved.”
The board refused to answer any specific questions concerning McDermott’s contract citing personnel issues.
However, Theresa Udziela, president of the Forest Ridge Education Association 142 Teachers Union, said it would be unfortunate if McDermott’s contract were approved ahead of the teachers’ or special education staff contracts.
“I don’t think (renewing the superintendent’s contract ahead of the teachers’ contract) would be the best choice for us,” Udziela said. “If they do that, it says ‘your superintendent is more important than the staff.’ But I don’t know if that is going to be the case.”
With three contracts up, Udziela is confident the board will take the impact of all contracts into account.
“You have a lot of different pieces to the puzzles. I couldn’t see them isolating one factor from the other,” she said.
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“We have established a really good working relationship and while we may not always agree initially, we know that we all support and look out for the kids,” she added.
Udziela said she expects negotiations for the teachers to begin next month.
Patricia Trebe is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.