WASILLA -- Mat-Su Borough School District is offering teachers and classified employees salary increases of nearly 6 percent over the next three years and promises to leave teachers' planning time intact -- but cannot guarantee everyone will still have a job next year.
"All parties involved understand that staff reductions will be necessary and are exploring all options to mitigate the impact," the district announced this week before outlining the terms of the tentative contract agreements made with the Mat-Su Education Association and the Classified Employees Association after several months of negotiations.
The School Board will consider ratifying the agreements at its meeting Wednesday, then the unions will present them to their members for a vote sometime before the end of the month.
The district's revenue problems grew out of a combination of federal and state funding cuts and the lack of reliable accounting practices at the district level, district officials have said.
Schools Superintendent Ken Burnley said Wednesday that to counter-balance the costs of the pay increases and health care benefits, the district will have to trim staff in every area by at least 3 percent, or about 75 positions.
"No question class sizes will go up probably by more than two students, but it won't be crippling," said Burnley, who was hired in the spring at an annual salary of $180,000 -- about $40,000 more than his predecessor was paid. "We think it's a fair compromise."
Burnley emphasized that the cuts would be made across the board, including in the Central Office and some administrative posts.
The agreements arrived after a threatened strike by teachers at a recent board meeting, where more than 600 Valley educators packed the bleachers at Palmer High School and pleaded with the board to provide cost-of-living pay increases and leave their classroom-planning periods alone.
With the district facing a $2.8 million revenue shortfall for next year and possibly another $3 million more in each successive year, Burnley said district staff has been trying to rework its budget and how the district approaches the budget.
"We have to tighten our belt so that we don't end up in a horrendous situation," he said. "But we're also changing the way we plan for the future. The board wants to make it clear that other than accepting customary increases from the state or borough, we don't want them to solve this problem for us."
Being able to have five-year revenue projections in place from now on and getting a handle on the next school-year's budget in November each year -- instead of at the end of the school year -- will help the district prevent unexpected fund balances in the future, he said.
Specific provisions of the tentative agreements include:
• A salary increase of 1.75 percent the first year, retroactive to July 1, 2010.
• Salary increases of 2 percent for the second and third years.
• A continuation of the 90/10 split on health insurance costs for the first two years, then work to alter the plan to reduce costs and agree to a 50/50 split on any increase in premiums from the previous year. A 90/10 split means the school district pay's 90 percent of the premium and the teachers pay 10 percent.
• Keeping teacher classroom planning time the same and continuing with special classes such as music, art and physical education.
• Retaining five floating holidays for classified staff, which includes office workers, custodians, food service employees and teacher aides
• Establishing alternative rates of pay for those participating in non-teaching activities such as professional development and curriculum writing.
Burnley said the district hopes to combine resources in about nine areas of service, such as IT, with the borough to help both entities save money.
"The priority of the district," Burnley said, "is to protect our educational programs, not place the organization in financial jeopardy and watch over the best use of taxpayer dollars."
Contact K.T. McKee at 352-6711.
By K.T. McKEE
kmckee@adn.com