Some more Indian Prairie employees are slated to get raises coming up.
The Indian Prairie School District 204 board has OK’d raises for administrative and non-union employees for next school year, and formally approved a four-year contract for support staff, which includes pay hikes in the coming years.
First, the school board approved, as part of the consent agenda at its meeting May 18, 3.9% pay hikes for some of its employees for the 2026-27 school year, according to district documents. The hikes are meant to be in line with the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, per the district.
These raises apply to administrative employees and non-bargaining staff, the latter of which includes employees like occupational therapists, physical therapists, registered nurses, administrative assistants, business support staff, HR support staff, tech support staff, communications support staff, science lab technicians, piano accompanists and schoolwide facilitators, according to district memos.
Also approved at the meeting was a four-year contract between the Indian Prairie Classified Association, or IPCA, and the district’s school board.
The Indian Prairie Classified Association is made up of more than 600 staff members in the district, who serve as support staff — as teacher assistants, health aides, school secretaries, dean’s assistants, Library Media Center assistants, receptionists and copy clerks, according to IPCA’s website. IPCA is affiliated with the Illinois Education Association and the National Education Association.
IPCA approved the agreement earlier this month, with 68% of members voting in favor of it and 32% voting against it, according to a community message from the district provided to The Beacon-News.
“We put our very best efforts into representing our membership, and we’re happy to celebrate this commitment,” IPCA’s bargaining team said in a message on its website.
The new four-year agreement calls for a starting hourly rate ranging from $19.25 to $22.25, according to the district’s message to the school community, with annual increases of around 2.5% depending on the position category.
The current IPCA contract expires at the end of June, the district message said.
District 204 also recently approved a four-year contract with its teachers union, the Indian Prairie Education Association.
That contract guarantees teachers’ salaries will go up by 2.9% in the first year of the contract and 2.7% in the second year. In the third and fourth years, raises will be equal to 80% of the CPI and will be limited to between 2.25% and 5%, but the agreement also provides a “financial safeguard” clause that allows for review of the contract after two years should there be significant revenue shifts or legislative changes from the state.
The multi-year contract with IPCA approved May 18 was meant to match the length of the teachers contract and allow the district to “competitively recruit and retain high quality, effective support staff,” a district memo said.
At the May 18 meeting, school board president Laurie Donahue thanked those involved in the support staff contract efforts, including the union. Following board approval, the contract was signed by Donahue, IPCA president Liz Lanning and District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley.
“This contract reflects our deep respect for the classified staff members who serve as the backbone of our school community,” Talley said in the community message from the district. “Our goal throughout this process was to honor the essential work of our clerical teams, assistants, and support personnel while maintaining our commitment to fiscal responsibility.”
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