Arbitration may not be the next step for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, support staff and teacher associations.

The Kenai Peninsula Education and the Kenai Peninsula Education Support associations submitted new proposals to the school district Friday, Jan 29.

“The district is reviewing the proposals and has requested clarification of some of the health care language from the two associations,” said school district spokesperson Pegge Erkeneff.

An advisory arbitration was jointly scheduled for June 1-2 by the three negotiating teams with Gary Axon, and Oregon-based arbitrator. The date would mark about 14-months of collective bargaining negotiations for contracts set to have begun July 1, 2015.

The most recent meeting between the teams that took place Jan. 13 was focused solely on resolving the issue of what health care plans school district employees would be offered. The most recent proposals included only one option of a high deductible health care plan for employees with an opt-out.

In a previous Clarion interview Erkeneff said the subject would have to be resolved before the groups could move on to reach a tentative agreement on salaries and benefits.

“The next meeting date for negotiations has not yet been scheduled, but if a tentative agreement is not reached prior to June, the arbitration dates have been confirmed,” Erkeneff said.

Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulaclarion.com.