At the Sept. 8 Valley View School Board meeting in Romeoville, dozens of teachers, students and parents criticized a district proposal to move high‑school start times 20 minutes earlier and questioned the administration's handling of ongoing contract negotiations; Valley View Council Local 604 said over 90% of its members voted to authorize a strike. "Over 90% of our membership voted," the union representative said, announcing the authorization vote.
The protests included parents and students who said the change would harm extracurriculars, family schedules and student sleep, and teachers who said the district has not negotiated in good faith. "For a month, you've pushed out carefully worded messages online claiming transparency while refusing to return to the bargaining table," parent Hannah Hernandez told the board. "Families are getting incomplete or misleading information, and staff are getting messages that feel more like attempts to divide and intimidate them than to support them."
The concerns centered on two linked issues: the district's proposal to add roughly 20 minutes to the high‑school day (creating an additional eighth period and shifting start times earlier), and the parties' stalled contract talks. Teachers and paraprofessionals described low morale, threats to benefits in district communications, and limits on classroom autonomy. "In my 25 years in education, I have never felt more devalued," said Cindy Villalobos, an eighth‑grade language arts teacher at Humphrey Middle School. Several teachers also said shorter class periods under an eight‑period day would make it difficult to cover curriculum. "I can't wrap my brain around how I am going to effectively teach curriculum in 46 minutes," said Nicole Williams, a teacher at Bolingbrook High School.
Students said they had not been consulted and warned of health and scheduling impacts. "Who did you talk to? Because I can tell you right now, it wasn't the students," said Patrick Kavanaugh, a Romeoville High School sophomore. Student speakers described earlier bus pickup times, added homework pressure and decreased sleep.
State Senator Rachel Ventura, who represents parts of the district, urged the board to ratify a contract without the start‑time change: "Pass a fair contract without the added compensated 20‑minute time and send these teachers back to the classrooms to do what they do best, educate our youth," she said.
The union representative framed the meeting as a last resort after months of bargaining. "Unity has never been higher," the representative said, and announced the membership authorization to strike. The union also set a possible date for work stoppage discussions during public remarks; members told the board a strike authorization was approved by the membership vote.
Board members and the superintendent acknowledged the comments and said they planned to return to the bargaining table. President Quigley said the board is "getting back to the table" this week and seeks a fair agreement that avoids interrupting instruction. "We do not want any interruptions… We don't want to harm students. We don't want to harm faculty," Quigley said during the meeting's closing remarks.
What happened at the meeting was largely discussion and public comment; the board did not adopt policy language changing start times during the session. The union's authorization is an internal member decision rather than a board action; the board recorded community concern, reaffirmed its intent to continue bargaining and scheduled its next regular meeting for Sept. 22.
Community members and staff asked for more transparency in negotiations and clearer communications about benefits if there were a strike; several speakers said a district email about strike contingencies was unsigned and alarming to staff. Questions about insurance coverage were raised and later clarified, according to teachers who said they had spoken with union legal counsel. The district's specific legal or policy authority to alter start times was not resolved at the meeting.
The next steps stated on Sept. 8: union leaders said membership remained unified and authorized strike action if negotiations do not produce a contract; the board said it will meet with negotiators this week and intends to avoid a work stoppage. The board did not approve any changes to start times or to the employee contract at the Sept. 8 meeting.