Ottawa Township High School students could be back to class as soon as next week, even if a meeting between both sides does not produce an agreement Friday.

The board requested a meeting for 2 p.m. Friday with the teachers' union. The union has agreed to meet.

Board President George "Skip" Hupp said with the teachers' strike entering its third week, he's heard from parents who want their children back in school. The board is working on a plan that could do just that, possibly by Wednesday, Oct. 21. Hupp hopes to announce a plan Friday if an agreement is not reached.

"Basically the plan is to get something going because the kids need to be back in school," he said.

Several possibilities are on the table, including online courses, substitute teachers and inviting teachers on the picket line to return to work if they desire. While nothing is set in stone, the board is working toward the goal of getting students in the classroom without backing down on its position in negotiations.

"We still have the general public telling us to hold firm," Hupp said.

According to Richard Myers, regional superintendent for La Salle County, about 500 people are registered to be substitute teachers with the regional office of education, a number up from previous years, likely due to the economy. However, on that list are some people who have found jobs or decided they do not like substitute teaching, but have not removed their names from consideration, Myers said.

Myers heard in Kendall County the list of substitute teachers has grown so long that new applications are not being accepted. The Herald News in Joliet reported a similar situation in Will County.

The OTHS Education Association has been chastising the board for refusing to negotiate.

"Our students and entire school district are truly suffering," Glenn Weatherford, union president, said in a press release. "With this crisis and the loss of our superintendent, we must not delay getting this resolved. It"s time for the board to come to the table, negotiate in good faith and stay for as long as it takes to get an agreement."

The union delivered a video message on its Web site, www.ieanea.org/local/ottawa, urging the community to demand both sides come together to seek a resolution.

VIEW VIDEO HERE

Weatherford repeatedly has said teachers have been frustrated by the board"s unwillingness to meet during the dispute. When meetings have been set, he said, the board has consistently made early exits.

"We can"t resolve these issues alone," Weatherford said. "We"ve been calling for meetings each day since the strike began. The board mostly says they"re too busy to meet. Then, when we have had meetings, the board has walked out without trying. The failure to meet is prolonging the strike."

Sticking points remain salary and health care contributions, which Hupp said the board will not negotiate separately. He also noted Sunday's meeting ended quickly because of language in the union's proposal that the health care contributions would not increase in years two and three "until plan design changes recommended by the insurance committee are implemented."

The union proposed an insurance committee to examine the insurance program and make it both beneficial to those on the plan and cost-effective to the district. Because all full-time school employees are eligible to be on the insurance plan negotiated through the teachers' contract, the union proposed that all sides, including the board since it writes the checks, be represented. But that representation would be proportional to the groups represented, meaning teachers may have a few more members, said OTHS teacher Trent Swords.

"If we're making contributions, please allow us into the decision-making process," he said.

Swords said while the committee would make recommendations, no changes to the policy would be made unless all parties mutually agree. However, Hupp fears no changes would be agreed upon for year two, meaning contributions from teachers would remain at $40 per month for family coverage and $15 for single coverage, rather than jumping to $132 per month for family and $25 per month for single in year two of the contract and to $148 per month for family and $30 for single in year three of the contract.

Swords said he would hope the committee could save the district money. He pointed to an editorial in The Times that estimated the overall cost of family coverage for insurance in the private sector at around $13,000 per year, instead of the approximately $19,000 per year paid with the OTHS self-insurance plan. Just shopping around for different options, he said, could equal a savings to the district and result in a better plan for teachers.

"Our complaint isn't about our insurance. Our complaint is not doing anything about it," he said. "The committee would be set up to investigate (the insurance plan) and make it better."

While the district previously has convened committee meetings to discuss insurance, Hupp said the board did not want recommendations made by that committee tied to what the teachers would pay. He also said the board does not want to use a flat rate, as the union has proposed, and would like to use percentages.

"I'm all for them making recommendations, but they have no motive to work on this unless they pay a percentage of the cost," he said.

Hupp said binding arbitration is not an option now, since normally an arbitrator will choose a side and the board does not want to be in a position where the arbitrator chooses the union's side.

"Our duty is to educate kids," he said. "Do teachers run the school or does the community run the school? The community runs the school by electing the board, which hires the administration. The teachers are trying to run the school."