Local school district officials and members of the teachers and support staff unions have been working for over a year to come to an agreement on new contracts that are feasible for both sides.
While a final arbitration date has been set in June, the parties continue scheduling negotiations, one of which is scheduled for Wednesday, March 30. Pegge Erkeneff with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District says the meeting was scheduled with a consultant so each side could ask healthcare questions.
Erkeneff: “This is a plan to the Public Health Trust and so that person will be there and talk about what that will actually entail and look like in actual costs, given what our district’s number of employees are and what’s covered so that we’ll be able to get some good questions answered.”
David Brighton with the Kenai Peninsula Education Association says the union proposal submitted in February means teachers and support staff would not be self-funding their insurance anymore.
Brighton: “The nice thing about that is that it locks us in at an annual rate, similar to other commercial healthcare plans. But this one is a non-profit organization designed and chaired in Alaska for Alaskan educators.”
Brighton says the Trust covers over 16,000 members currently and by the Kenai Peninsula employees joining it would set a flat rate for the District over the next year.
The upcoming bargaining session between the District and the unions is set for 4:00 pm on Wednesday, March 30, in the 4D Building conference room in Soldotna.