Mat-Su Classified Employees, school board approve tentative agreement

Last week, the Classified Employees Association (CEA) voted on the Tentative Agreement with the Matanuska Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD), for the contract that is set to expire in 2026. This vote comes on the heels of a lengthy and sometimes contentious contract bargain that took 18 months to resolve. The tentative agreement received 91% approval from the union.

“After a lengthy bargain I am happy to have presented this contract to our members and they have overwhelmingly voted to ratify the agreement,” said Rick Morgan, President of CEA. “I believe this contract is fair and will foster an environment that will attract and retain high-quality employees to best serve our students. Mat-Su Classified employees will finally start to see some economic relief in their paychecks after years of inflation.”

During the regularly scheduled MSBSD school board meeting, the board voted unanimously to ratify the tentative agreement. In a press release, the CEA state that it has already started preparing the next steps moving forward, which includes implementation of the new contract language and open enrollment with the new health insurance carrier and, with the help of the district, has already started educating CEA members on the details of the contract and the fine points of the new health care system.

“I look forward to the School Board’s approval of this contract so we can put this challenging bargain behind us,” said Morgan. “On behalf of the members of CEA I’d like to thank our bargaining team, and all of the classified educators who work day in and day out to support our Mat-Su students.”