CAIRO STUDENTS BACK IN SCHOOL

CAIRO, Ill. -- Students returned to school Tuesday for the first time since the Cairo Association of Teachers went out on strike Nov. 16.

"We don't have the final count for the day," said Dr. Elaine Bonifield, superintendent of Cairo public schools. "This is the first day back in seven weeks, and there is a flu bug going around."

An agreement was reached following a three-hour negotiation session Monday night. The teachers agreed to a 10.9 percent pay increase over a two-year period. The teachers voted Monday night to accept the agreement.

Bonifield said she was pleased with the arrangement, which calls for schools to remain in session through June to make up days missed during the strike.

"All days will be made up," Bonifield said Tuesday. "That was part of the agreement."

The strike, which lasted seven weeks, included 24 school days. Eight school days are built into the schedule for closings because of bad weather.

"We don't see any problem in making up the days," said Bonifield.

Parent-teachers conferences will be switched from Friday to Saturday.

Bonifield said no transfer papers had been issued for students who were considering transfers to other schools during the strike. "We may lose a few students," she said. "But I think most of them want to stay in the Cairo School District."

When the strike began, 1,048 students were enrolled in the district.

Ron Newell, president of the teachers association, said the teachers are glad to be back in the classrooms.

The breakthrough for teachers came when the Cairo Board of Education agreed to address the teachers association's concerns over job security. Eighteen of the district's teachers were fired last year due to "economic necessity," said Newell. The teachers eventually were rehired.

The agreement gives teachers pay increases of 4.9 percent for the 1994-95 school year and 6 percent for the 1995-96 school term. Cairo teachers presently average more than $30,000 a year.

The teachers had sought a 6 percent increase for the 1994-95 year, plus steps that would provide additional increases of up to 2.9 percent based on education and experience.

Also restored were non-athletic, extracurricular activities -- yearbook, junior-senior prom, Beta Club, student council, speech and cheerleading -- that previously had been cut by the board.

Both boys and girls basketball teams will play games this week. The girls, who hosted East Prairie, Mo., Tuesday night, will host Ballard County, Ky., Thursday night. The boys will play at Morganfield, Ky., Saturday night.