With contract talks stalled, Chaska schools, union turn to mediator

With no deal reached yet between the Eastern Carver County School District and its teachers, union leaders and the district have turned to mediation.

The two sides met for the first time Wednesday with a state-appointed mediator. The all-day session ended without a resolution, and another session was tentatively scheduled for Jan. 5.

That's just days before the Jan. 15 contract settlement deadline. Under state law, school districts that do not settle their contracts by Jan. 15 will lose some of their state funding.

"We can get it done and ratified if we can have an agreement by Jan. 5," said Tim Griffin, president of the Chaska Education Association, the teachers' union. "It depends on both sides, at this point, to make some movement. We're always hopeful."

Neither Griffin nor district leaders would talk in detail about their latest discussions, citing a confidentiality agreement. But earlier this year, the district had gone a step beyond other cash-strapped districts in the area, seeking a "hard freeze" on all staff pay and benefits, including not only teachers' cost-of-living raises but also their annual step raises and pay bumps for advanced degrees or training.

District officials said the only other option was to lay off teachers, and in May they notified 45 full-time non-tenured teachers that their contracts would not be renewed.

The district and union did not come to an agreement during the summer, so teachers went to work this fall under the terms of their old contract. But before school started, the district received more state funding than it had anticipated, plus some federal stimulus funding to help cover special education costs, so it was able to call back about half of the teachers it had laid off.

Josh Tilsen , a labor mediator with the State Bureau of Mediation Services, has been assigned to the Chaska case. He, too, declined to talk about the substance of the mediation talks but said money is the main sticking point.

"The parties are still talking and we're getting them to come closer together," he said. "The parties traditionally have had a very good relationship. This year is testing that relationship and every other relationship around the state. It's a tough, tough year."

Dozens of school districts throughout the state still haven't settled contracts with their teachers. Chaska teachers have been working without a new contract since July 1.

In general, either party can request mediation at any time during contract negotiations, and the other party must acquiesce. The Chaska Education Association asked for mediation on Oct. 2.

District 112 Superintendent David Jennings briefed school board members on the mediation process in an e-mail last month.

"Going into the current negotiation, and facing both lowered enrollment growth and a reduced state commitment to funding, we planned to ask teachers (and all staff) to help the district address the budget problem with pay freezes," he wrote. "The goal is simple, holding the line on class sizes and, in the process, saving as many jobs as possible."

But when the hard freeze was proposed in March, Griffin pleaded with school officials to give up on the idea. He said it would seriously damage the good relationship between the union and the district.

The Eastern Carver County School District faces a $5 million budget gap this school year. The district was looking to save $1.66 million with the hard freeze.

Allie Shah • 612-673-4488

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