After more than a year of negotiations, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and its two largest employee unions have hashed out tentative contract agreements. The agreements, announced today, are subject to approval by both unions’ members and the school board. Both contracts cover three years and apply retroactively to the 2025-2026 school year.
When negotiations began, both unions said meaningful raises were a top priority, with union leadership citing inflation and higher costs of living. Earlier this year, negotiations stalled after the district and unions declared an impasse on salaries.
Susanna Litwiniak says the unions mostly got what they asked for regarding pay. She’s president of the support association, which represents around 500 non-certified employees, like secretaries and custodians.
“The district got kind of creative, and, rather than looking at percentages, they are adding dollar amounts to each cell of our salary schedule,” she said. “That kind of ensures that the people at the lowest paid level are getting a boost right away, and everybody is getting a raise.”
As proposed, district support staff would get a retroactive boost of $1.25 to their hourly wages for last school year. They would get a two dollar per hour raise for the current school year, and a one dollar per hour raise for next school year.
Rebecca Walker is president of the union that represents about 500 teachers and other certified staff. She says their contract includes what’s called “trigger language” for salaries.
“Basically saying like, ‘We want to pay you more, but we don't know if we're going to have the money. But if we do have the money, we're going to give you that extra percentage,’” she said.
As proposed, all teachers would get a flat, $3,000 pay bump for this school year and a retroactive $3,000 bump for the previous school year, to be paid in September. Then, certified staff would get a 3% raise in the third year of the contract.
Teachers would get another 1% salary increase if the State of Alaska either raises the base amount of money it gives school districts per student by $500, or approves one-time money for K-12 schools that equals at least a $500 per-student bump.
Negotiations kicked off as the district forecast significant budget shortfalls at status quo program and staffing levels: a $17 million deficit ahead of last year’s budget cycle and an $8.5 million deficit during the most recent budget cycle. The two unions’ initial proposals asked for a combined $15.5 million in raises alone.
But salaries are only part of the equation. Healthcare was a major point of debate among all groups. For both unions, the district is proposing to increase the percentage of employee healthcare costs it covers, from an 85-15 split to a 90-10 split. But Litwiniak says that comes with higher costs for out-of-network care.
“That will kind of make healthcare more expensive if you're not going to an in-network provider,” she said. “So that was kind of a give-and-take situation there. In order to save employees money, the plan had to save money.”
The district and unions tentatively agreed to a healthcare package earlier this year, but it was rejected by both groups of union members.
Walker suspects part of the reason it failed the first time around was timing.
“People felt really pressured,” she said. “They didn't think that they could find new providers that were in-network by the first of July, which was the initial proposed date. That date has been pushed back.”
Employees now have until Jan. 1, 2027 to switch over.
The unions also secured an additional handful of changes to the non-financial elements of their contracts.
Support employees would be allowed to accrue five additional days of personal leave per year and to cash in one additional unused leave day per year. And new employees would get front-loaded sick leave to use if they fall ill before accruing sick time.
Other changes include allowing union representatives to visit members at their job site during non-work hours, which is current practice. The new contract would also specify what topics should be covered in a new employee orientation and ensure staff do not work through their lunch break.
On the teacher side, Walker says employees in the retirement tier with the least benefits will have more opportunities to set aside money for retirement. And she says the district is going to recognize more years of experience for new employees when determining their starting pay.
Among other changes, certified staff would also be allowed to use three days of sick leave for emergencies like travel and weather. And the contract would newly articulate what employment information the district must provide to unions about members, and when. The union would get a table at new employee orientations, too.
Litwiniak says staff have been frustrated working under the terms of expired contracts while negotiations played out. But she says the negotiation process is symptomatic of larger problems.
“I think that part of the reason that it took so long was because of the uncertainty of funding for public education in our state,” she said. “I think that we would all be sitting in a much better place if we just had certainty of what the funding was going to be early. If there was some forward funding for schools, and everybody knew what they were working with.”
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District could not be reached for comment before airtime.
In a statement, Superintendent Clayton Holland celebrated the work that went into the proposals.
“Our employees are at the center of everything we do for students, providing high quality instruction, meals, and the many services that support our students and schools each day,” he wrote. “I believe this is a fair and competitive agreement that recognizes the value of our employees, helps us recruit and retain great people, and supports our continued focus on students.”
Both union presidents say they’re optimistic their members will approve the tentative contracts. If that happens, the contracts go to the school board for final approval.
