The Juneau School District and the Juneau Education Association declared impasse on July 24th. Here is the joint statement:

The District chose to release its own statement on July 30, including both initial proposals and last best offers on the District website. This is permissible under AS 23.40.235.

However, there are concerns about the narrative JSD posted to explain the differences. It is important to share the nuances of negotiations with our members. They are as follows:

District Statement: “The estimated cost of JEA’s last best offer was $1,841,239 for one year and included an average salary increase for every JEA member of 4.25%.”

Your JEA bargaining team calculated the cost of the contract at less than the district claims at $1,664,913, which includes an increase in the health care contribution and salary. Throughout the negotiation process, the District has changed its methodology for costing proposals. Currently, JSD is utilizing a new way to calculate costs that do not reflect actual costs, resulting in a difference in projected costs.

District Statement: “The estimated cost of the District’s last best offer was $673,127 and included a salary increase for every JEA member.”

Your bargaining team has calculated JSD’s offer at $585,610. The salary increase the District proposed is contingent upon accepting a 50% reduction in Middle School Preparation Time, cutting four Middle School teaching positions, and the deletion of other language that would negatively impact the classroom.

District Statement: “The average salary increase is 3.0% plus additional increases in step and lane salary movement.” (In the 2024-25 school year, JEA members received a 3.25% salary increase.)

Almost 30% of current JEA members will receive less than a net 1% annual increase in pay after taxes and deductions, making this ‘increase’ insignificant. These are the teachers who have been with the District the longest. The District is also proposing to remove Step 18, preventing additional steps for veteran staff.

District statement: “The District’s last best offer also included a $10 increase to health care contribution per member. Educators have a choice among health insurance plans, including an employer-compensated plan that is free to the employee. JEA’s last best offer included a $50 increase to health care contribution per member.”

The health insurance contributions for JEA have not kept pace with costs. The “free” High Deductible Health Plan does not cover families nor does it meet the unique medical needs members face. We want to ensure that indivudals have appropriate choices for health care coverage.

Negotiations is a complicated issue, and your team is moving forward with the next step in the process. On July 24, impasse was declared. The next step in the process is to go to mediation. We will continue to update the membership as are able through this process.

Here are the “last best offers”