Kenai Peninsula Borough School District administration, members from the Kenai Peninsula Education Association and the Kenai Peninsula Education Support Association meet at a collective bargaining session to continue contract negotiations for employees who have been without contracts for a year, on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District administration, members from the Kenai Peninsula Education Association and the Kenai Peninsula Education Support Association meet at a collective bargaining session to continue contract negotiations for employees who have been without contracts for a year, on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

School district, employee associations continue contract talks

The district rejected one proposal from two employee associations and is analyzing another

In an all-day collective bargaining meeting on Monday, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District rejected one proposal from two employee associations, and is currently analyzing another, a press release from the district said.

The associations also rejected a district proposal offered during Monday’s meeting.

President of the Kenai Peninsula Education Association, David Brighton, said the negotiations are heading in the right direction.

For the last year, contract negotiations between the school district and two employee associations, Kenai Peninsula Education Association and Kenai Peninsula Support Association, which represent non-tenured teachers and support personnel, have snagged on the rising cost of health care. A previous agreement effective through June 2018 remains in use for the employees without contracts.

After months of negotiations, district and employee associations could not come to an agreement, so in February, an arbitrator held a hearing to help guide contract negotiations.

The school district has offered proposals for each employee association, based on recommendations from the arbitrator’s report, released April 26.

“The district proposal accepts the recommendations in the arbitrator’s report,” Pegge Erkeneff, communications liaison for the district, said in a May 8 press release.

Since 2017, the district has provided employees with two options for health care benefits, which include a high-deductible plan and a traditional plan. Employees pay 10% of the costs for the high-deductible plan, and 15% of the costs for the traditional plan, according to the report.

The proposal made by the associations, which is now being analyzed by the district, includes salary recommendations from the arbitrator, and asks the district to migrate employees from the traditional plan to the district’s high-deductible plan. The traditional plan has more expensive premiums, meaning more money taken out of employee’s paycheck. The high-deductible plan ensures less expensive premiums, but has a higher upfront cost to employees receiving medical care.

“If the district terminates the traditional plan, we are willing to agree to the 85% split rather than the current 90/10 split, if they terminate the cap,” Brighton said. “I believe that will lower premiums for employees and make the cost more affordable for the district.”

Brighton said he’s concerned the traditional plan offered by the district will cost employees over $1,000 a month next year.

“They can’t afford that,” Brighton said. “We’re willing to accept higher deductibles.”

The associations will expect a response from the district on their last proposal at the next collective bargaining meeting at 9 a.m., on Thursday, May 16.

More in News

Kenai Central High School’s Kyle Foster speaks during the 35th Annual Caring for the Kenai Oral Presentations at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward freshman wins 35th Caring for the Kenai with thermal asphalt proposal

Twelve finalists were chosen in this year’s competition.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) speaks to reporters about his decision to veto an education funding bill at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy’s veto of education funding bill puts pressure on lawmakers during final month of session

Governor also previews new bill with $560 BSA increase, plus additional funds for policy initiatives.

Brent Johnson speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly kills resolution asking for option to cap property assessment increases

Alaska municipalities are required by state statute to assess all properties at their full and true value.

City of Kenai Public Works Director Scott Curtain; City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel; Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche; Sen. Lisa Murkowski; Col. Jeffrey Palazzini; Elaina Spraker; Adam Trombley; and Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank cut the ribbon to celebrate the start of work on the Kenai River Bluff Stabilization Project in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, June 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai bluff stabilization info meeting rescheduled for April 30

Originally, the event was scheduled for the same time as the Caring for the Kenai final presentations.

Project stakeholders cut a ribbon at the Nikiski Shelter of Hope on Friday, May 20, 2022, in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Peninsula organizations awarded mental health trust grants

Three organizations, in Seldovia, Seward and Soldotna, recently received funding from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.

Chickens are seen inside of a chicken house at Diamond M Ranch on Thursday, April 1, 2021, off Kalifornsky Beach Road near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna council hears call to lessen chicken restrictions

The Soldotna City Council this month heard from people calling for a… Continue reading

Mount Spurr, raised to Advisory on the Volcano Alert Level, can be seen in yellow northwest of the Kenai Peninsula. (Map courtesy Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Department of the Interior)
Spurr activity ‘declined slightly’

If an eruption were to occur, there would be noticeable indicators that may provide days to weeks of additional warning.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche delivers a borough update to the joint Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Micciche pushes mill rate decrease, presses state to boost education funding

Borough Mayor Peter Micciche delivered an update to the joint Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce on Wednesday.

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
SPITwSPOTS employees speak to an attendee of the Kenai Peninsula Job and Career Fair in Kenai on Wednesday.
Job fair gathers together employers, job seekers

“That face-to-face has kind of been missing for a lot of people.”

Most Read