It was a somewhat brief meeting for the Waterloo School Board as it addressed contract and personnel items, approved an amended 2023-24 budget and heard an impassioned speech from the teacher’s union seeking to address one of the largest problems affecting the ongoing teacher shortage in the state.

Waterloo Classroom Teacher’s Association Union President Renee Koeneman spoke on behalf of the union at the start of Monday’s meeting, opening her presentation by noting the district, like many others, has been impacted by a shortage in teachers.

She pointed to the pension crisis in the profession as one of several contributing factors, referencing the Tier Two pension system.

As the Illinois Education Association website describes, teachers hired after Jan. 1, 2011, are enrolled in Tier Two of the Teachers’ Retirement System, the State Universities Retirement System or Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.

The most notable aspect of this system is that Tier Two teachers will have to work until age 67 to retire with full benefits while their peers hired before 2011 with 35 years of service will be able to retire with full benefits at 55.

The IEA is pushing an “Undo Tier Two” initiative in support of Senate Bill 2024, which among other items is meant to address the discrepancy in retirement ages.

In her speech, Koeneman voiced sentiments shared by the IEA about how this pension issue is causing many teachers to reconsider their choice of profession while others are turned away from teaching outright.

“This crisis didn’t unfold by accident,” Koeneman said. “It was the result of decisions made by governors and legislators across party lines. Regardless of political affiliation, these officials share the responsibility for the current predicament. The creation of Tier Two by the Teachers’ Retirement System since Jan. 1, 2011, has created inequity between Tier One and Tier Two teachers, prompting many to reconsider and leave the profession or not even begin a career in teaching.”

Koeneman further spoke about the IEA and  Illinois Federation of Teachers’ efforts to fix Tier Two.

She urged those in attendance and in the community to contact lawmakers this week to voice their support of Senate Bill 2024.

For more information on the “Undo Tier Two” initiative, visit ieanea.org. The IEA also provides 507-497-1665 as a phone number for individuals to contact their legislators.

Also in her speech, as she urged members of the community to support their educators, she noted the many ways in which Waterloo teachers are active outside of school.

She pointed to a range of food drives, fundraisers and other charity initiatives, also noting how teachers have encouraged families to attend local events. Koeneman also spoke to Waterloo teachers’ general support of local businesses and organizations, from field trips to the University of Illinois Extension to holding holiday events and meetings at various restaurants and other venues.

“Our teachers are not just educators,” Koeneman said. “They are pillars of this community, tirelessly working to uplift and enrich the lives of its members. But to continue this vital work, we need your support in addressing the systemic challenges facing our profession. Together, let’s ensure that Waterloo remains a place where educators can thrive, students can excel and the community can flourish.”

Another large item received attention early in the meeting as Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron provided a summary of the amended budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year originally approved in September.

He pointed to a roughly million dollar change in the capital fund to pay for bills from the Zahnow Elementary renovation project, improved interest rates for investments and missing revenue for a maintenance grant due to a delayed roofing project which is set to be received by the district next fiscal year.

An additional expense he described was addressing mold, ductwork and a classroom renovation at Rogers Elementary. He also noted the increased cost of health insurance which came into effect at the top of the year.

“Overall, we now anticipate, at the end of our fiscal year June 30, having in reserve $22,353,000,” Charron said. “That is $213,000 less than we originally budgeted. $213,000 sounds like a lot of money, but that is half of one percent of our budget.”

Zahnow Principal Justin Imm spoke about the ongoing construction, how folks from Holland Construction have been stepping into classrooms to read to students.

Director of Building and Grounds Will Hulett also touched on the Zahnow construction, additionally mentioning the settling at Rogers which has been a topic discussed by the board for some time.

Charron also addressed the Rogers settling, once again reiterating there are minimal concerns as there don’t seem to be any voids or sinkholes under the building – merely settling.

Later in the meeting, the board approved the amended budget and tabled the awarding of a bid to Middendorf and Reuss Construction for a Waterloo Junior High School bleacher replacement.

The board also approved a Health/Life Safety amendment for roof replacements at Rogers and Gardner along with the dehumidification system for the Rogers gym.

Charron explained this agenda item simply indicated the board’s approval to pay for these projects using Health/Life Safety funds, with further approval required from the Regional Office of Education and Illinois State Superintendent for the Illinois State Board of Education.

“We had approved those roof bids at a previous board meeting,” Charron said. “What you’re doing here is approving them as a Health/Life Safety amendment so that we can spend Health/Life Safety dollars on the project. Going back to the Zahnow project and what that is going to cost us, we’re going to come close to draining the funds that we have in reserve in our capital fund, so when it comes to some of these other projects that we used to spend down some of our capital funds… The main source of revenue for our capital fund is sales tax revenue for the district, but we are needing to reserve that for this Zahnow construction project at this time. Things that do qualify as a Health/Life Safety project, we’re asking that the board do that.”

The board also approved a contract with Western Specialty Contractors for $17,740 for waterproofing gym wall masonry at Gardner as well as the first reading of Press Plus Issue 114 district board policy changes.

Personnel items included approval of several one-year contracts and the hiring of several elementary teachers and a high school teacher.