School district and teachers union reach tentative contract deal

The Mat-Su Borough School District and Mat-Su Education Association have reached a tentative contract agreement, avoiding the threat of a teacher strike.

In a joint press conference Thursday afternoon, Superintendent Randy Trani and MSEA President Dianne Shibe announced that a compromise has been reached, and a deal would be signed.

Mat-Su teachers have been working without a current contract for more than eighteen months.  Negotiations stalled in late August, and both the district and the union took their cases public.  Last week, MSEA announced a strike vote, which passed by a large margin.  With the threat of a strike looming, negotiations resumed on Monday.

The contract is for three years, and is retroactive to last school year.  Each year includes a two-percent pay increase for teachers.  For much of the negotiation, health insurance was a significant sticking point.  Dianne Shibe said on Thursday that she did not want to discuss the details of the compromise agreement until it has been presented to union members.

Superintendent Trani says he hopes to avoid coming this close to a strike in the future, and wants to start negotiating on the next contract as soon as is reasonable.

While the school district and union negotiators have come to an agreement, it is not final, yet.  The deal must be ratified by both the MSEA membership and the Mat-Su Borough School Board.