Kenai Peninsula Borough School District employees hold signs for a fair contract at Thursday’s special board of education meeting, May 16, 2019, In Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District employees hold signs for a fair contract at Thursday’s special board of education meeting, May 16, 2019, In Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Strike looms as talks continue

As labor negotiations continue, school district details impacts of work stoppage

The school district and two employee associations will be meeting Aug. 13 to continue bargaining for a new contract. If an agreement can’t be reached, the associations have voted to strike.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is hopeful an agreement will be reached next week, a Wednesday press release from the district said.

The Kenai Peninsula Education Association and Kenai Peninsula Education Support Association are also hopeful the district can work with them to settle a contract, Kenai Peninsula Education Association President David Brighton said.

“Health insurance is still unaffordable,” Brighton said. “We hope the school district can work with us to settle a contract.”

After contract negotiations with the district hit a standstill, peninsula educators and staff voted May 22 to strike, with more than 75% of certified staff voting “yes” on a walkout. The associations planned to choose a strategic time to start the strike.

For over a year, contract negotiations between the borough school district and the associations have snagged on the rising cost of health care. A previous agreement effective through June 2018 remains in use for employees without contracts.

District employees cannot be fired for participating in a legal strike.

What happens if a contract can’t be settled and employees go on strike? In the district’s press release, communications liaison Pegge Erkeneff said a work stoppage would result in an emergency closure of schools.

If and when the associations decide to call a strike, they are required to notify the superintendent 72 hours in advance. The superintendent will notify staff, parents, community partners, contractors and others of the strike’s start date.

In the event of a strike, every school in the district will be closed, including Connections Homeschool, charter and alternative schools and distance delivery programs, the district’s release said.

The emergency school closures will impact all before- and after-school activities, sports, community school activities, pools and any rentals or usage of school facilities, the district’s release said.

The closure also encompasses any Boys and Girls Clubs activities in every school in the district.

Only individuals approved by the superintendent will have access to district schools and facilities.

The cancellation of all high school sporting activities are subject to the rules of Kenai Peninsula School Activities Association, affiliate region boards and Alaska School Activities Association, and contests may or may not be able to be made up, according to the release.

School session days and staff work days that are missed due to a strike must be made up and the number of days schools are closed due to the strike will be added to the end of the school year in May.

In the event of a strike, daily updates will be issued and official district communications will be posted on the district’s website and digital media platforms.

These changes will only occur if the superintendent receives a strike notice from the associations.

Collective bargaining resumes at 4:30 p.m., Aug. 13 at Soldotna High School Library.

More in News

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.
Seward council candidates discuss issues at election forum

Participating in Thursday’s forum were Julie Crites and Brad Snowden

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Soldotna adopts arts and culture master plan

The plan outlines how the city plans to support arts and culture over the next 10 years

Architect Nancy Casey speaks in front of a small gathering at the Fireside Chat presented by the Kenai Watershed Forum on Nov. 30, 2022, at Kenai River Brewing in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum’s Fireside Chats return Wednesday

The chats will cover a range of interesting topics, centered on knowledge, research and projects

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
Kenai to sign bluff stabilization agreement Monday

A signing event will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Senior Center

Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Public comment accepted for proposed rate increases for overnight fees at refuge

Campsites would increase $5 per night and cabins would increase $10 per night

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna awards field house contract

Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. will construct the facility

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly to let borough mayors speak sooner during meetings

The mayor’s report will now be given after the first round of public comments and before public hearings and new assembly business

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Most Read