School District reaches tentative agreement with CEA

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough School Board and Mat-Su Borough Assembly met on Wednesday to discuss legislative priorities and update the assembly on where the school district is on contract negotiations with employee unions. MSBSD Superintendent Dr. Monica Goyette altered the assembly that the school district has reached a tentative agreement with the Classified Employees Association representing support staff for schools.

“We believe that we can implement that when we present it to the board without reductions to PTR and our budget,” said Dr. Goyette.

The contract will still need to be ratified by the CEA and the School Board but tentatively provides a soft cap on insurance with over $1,500 a month increases for the first year and a 50/50 split following that.

The school district would provide a one time bonus payment of $1,500 and increase pay rates by 1.5 percent over the next two years, valuing the total package at $2 million over three years. However, negotiations with the Mat-Su Educators Association representing teachers have stalled.

“Currently we are at impasse and moving into arbitration with both sides agreeing that if something were to happen prior to arbitration we would come back to the table,” said Dr. Goyette.

Goyette expects to present the school board with the projected revenues and expenditures at the February 5 meeting. Goyette said that projections hinge on a full funding of the Base Student Allocation and 6.3 mills from the Borough. Prior to its designated place on the agenda, School Board member Ole Larson began addressing the ‘elephant in the room’ of School Bond Debt Reimbursement, which saw state funding cut in half last year.

“Can we go forward as a school board with some sort of fuzzy feeling that we can budget like you’re saying? Right now instead of operating out of fear of losing everything, that’s affecting our negotiations,” said School Board member Jeff Taylor.

Prior to the failure of the vote between the House and Senate in Juneau not to override Governor Dunleavy’s vetoes including SBDR, the Assembly made it their second legislative funding priority in a meeting that Dunleavy attended. Mayor Vern Halter has noted at every meeting since the legislative priority meeting with Dunleavy how much he appreciates Dunleavy’s appearance, which Halter believes is the first time a sitting Governor has attended a meeting with the Assembly. The vote between the House and Senate failed 37-20 to override Dunleavy’s veto.

“I have the total confidence in the Governor for full funding 70/30,” said Mayor Halter.

Halter holds out hope for the legislative process that was not shared by all sitting at the table.

“I don’t,” said Larson.

Despite the lack of consensus, Halter held out his favorable opinion after meeting with the governor.

“I hope he goes 70/30. That was the original agreement when he was on your school board,” said Halter.

Goyette also informed the assembly and school board that though the school board would vote on extending the lease for Mat-Su Central School by three to five years at the February meeting, she is also recommending that the board vote to begin searching for a new school site for the over 1,900 Mat-Su Central School students through the site selection committee.

Goyette also informed both bodies that six bus routes for middle and high school students would be combined in Palmer.

“We are trying to continuously not just look at revenue but look at the expense side of the house,” said Dr. Goyette.

Goyette said that routes in Wasilla were being examined as possibilities for combination and that the district would save up to $90,000 per route.