After more than two weeks of picketing, teachers and Galesburg School District 205 reached an agreement to end the strike.
The last points of disagreement, over recall rights concerning recall rights for laid off teachers, were resolved on the final night of negotiations that began Wednesday, August 27, 2014 and continued until about 3 a.m. the next morning. Recall rights are a ranking system for calling teaches back to work in the event of a layoff.
A post to the Galesburg Education Association website just before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday hinted that a possible agreement was near.
"Regardless of the outcome tonight, there WILL be a membership meeting on Thursday (8/28/14). Time and place will be announced. There will likely be some type of vote," the post said.
The strike initially halted extracurricular activities including practices for fall sports. Administrators later granted a waiver to allow, but not require, those activities to continue during the strike.
The vote, to ratify the negotiated agreement, was expected to happen at a meeting that began at 8 a.m. Thursday, August 28. By about 12:30 p.m., the vote had been conducted and the vote count was underway.
Teachers emerged from the vote count meeting at about 2 p.m.
The school board began an open-session meeting at about 12:30 p.m. to await a decision from the teachers, and the board planned to take its vote immediately after receiving that decision.
The votes ended a strike that began Wednesday, August 13.
District officials then issued a brief statement, confirming the GEA and the board officially ratified a four-year contract.
"Students in Galesburg CUSD No. 205 will officially start school on Friday, August 29, 2014. They will report to their respective buildings and we will have a 55-minute early dismissal," the statement said.
Bright Futures students begin on Tuesday, September 2.
The votes ended a strike that began Wednesday, August 13.