Juneau School District can step away from the negotiating table for the next three years.<\/p>\n
During Tuesday night’s school board meeting, a pair of three-year agreements with both Juneau Education Association and Juneau School Administrative Association were given their final readings and unanimously approved.<\/p>\n
The JEA agreement calls for a raise of 1 percent in fiscal year 2020, .5 percent in ‘21, and .5 percent in ‘22. The agreement also adds a teacher workday to the calendar beginning in FY21, and an additional student day in FY22.<\/p>\n
“This is a major piece to the backbone to our working relationship with a very important group of our employees, so I appreciate all the efforts of JEA as well as our management team during this process,” Superintendent Bridget Weiss said.<\/p>\n
The JEA agreement took more than 76 hours of negotiations, said Darryl Smith, director of human resources, but he and incoming JEA President Kelly Stewart said it was a constructive process.<\/p>\n
Stewart, Weiss and Smith each said they were glad to reach a multi-year agreement and that it was reached before the previous one lapsed in July.<\/p>\n
[It’s negotiating time for Juneau School District<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n “We were excited to not have to start the new year in the process, and we can focus on the kids,” Stewart said.<\/p>\n The JSAA agreement calls for a raise of 1 percent in fiscal year 2020, .5 percent in ‘21, and .5 percent in ‘22. The agreement also provides an increase to the district paid portion of health insurance of $25 per month in fiscal year 2020, $20 in ‘21, and $20 in ‘22.<\/p>\n “While it is a smaller group — just over 20 employees — it is a critical group,” Weiss said. “Again, a collaborative process resulting in a three-year agreement.”<\/p>\n While the agreements received final readings, an indigenous language revitalization policy was given its first reading.<\/p>\n The policy states the school board’s support for Tlingit language revitalization efforts and willingness to work with community members to further the effort. If it gets its final reading in August, it won’t mean any immediate changes in classrooms, Weiss said, but instead signifies the district’s support of revitalization.<\/p>\n Lingít, the Tlingit language, was among the languages declared endangered in 2018. The Endangered Languages Project<\/a> estimates there are about 200 fluent speakers of Lingít worldwide. The Alaska Native Language Center <\/a>similarly puts that figure at 175 speakers.<\/p>\n