The Niles Township High School District 219 school board approved a payout earlier this month to a Niles West staffer to settle a dispute with the union over which educators — certified or paraprofessional — would be allowed to supervise after-school detention.
The Skokie Review obtained a copy of the agreement through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The agreement pays Denise French, listed in the school’s directory as a guidance secretary, $2,500 and settles whether she is allowed to pick up extra hours supervising students who stay after school for detention.
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French had routinely supervised the disciplinary sessions until school district officials stepped in and told her to stop, citing her lack of teaching certification, according to NTHS Dist. 219 spokesman Jim Szczepaniak.
“Licensed educators are trained in classroom management, including addressing behavioral problems,” Szczepaniak said. “And since this is after-school detention, we thought it just makes sense for that supervision to be done by a licensed educator.”
The school board approved the settlement May 23 at a special NTHS Dist. 219 meeting.
The Niles Township Federation of Teachers and Support Staff union filed a grievance Nov. 11, 2017 with the school district on French’s behalf, claiming that no rule explicitly barred her from the position, Szczepaniak said.
“This was basically the union saying ‘We were doing it before, so why are you changing it now?’” Szczepaniak said.
Representatives from the union did not respond to requests for comment.
The parties had planned to head into legal arbitration, but they ended up reaching a deal eight days before the first scheduled hearing, Szczepaniak said.
According to the agreement, an arbitration hearing was scheduled for May 16.
In addition to the $2,500 payment, the settlement calls for the school district to officially edit the job description for the role.
“Effective at the start of the 2018-2019 school year, the job description for “After School Detention Supervisor” shall be re-written to reflect that the employee in this position will serve as a behavioral interventionist,” according to text of the settlement.
And with the change to the position, according to the agreement, a professional educator license shall be required.”
The union agreed to dismiss the grievance “in its entirety” and not file “more grievances, lawsuits, or complaints in any venue” related to it, the agreement states.