By Jake Dye

For the Homer Independent Press

As Monday’s meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education got underway, people were spilling out of the assembly chambers and peering in through doorways. Many wore “Red for Ed” or carried signs reading either “Support our Teachers” or “Support our Education Support Staff.”

They called on the school board to pressure the district’s negotiating team to offer a more competitive contract proposal to the unions representing teachers and support staff. Monday’s meeting came well over a year into a drawn-out negotiation process. Per reporting by KDLL public radio in Kenai, the teacher’s union in February of 2025 proposed 22% raises, saying that that would bring KPBSD teachers up to parity with other educators in the state. 


As of last month, the district is proposing a three-year contract with a 3% raise this year, followed by 2% in each of the following two years. The teacher’s union wants a two-year contract with a 6% raise this year and 5% next year. The groups have reached an impasse and are working with a mediator.


Linnea Wuest, a teacher at Soldotna Elementary, said the work of supporting child development and “creating their childhoods” is a huge responsibility with a real financial cost. She said without a quality contract, the district cannot retain quality educators.


Catherine Mendenhall, a teacher at Mountain View Elementary, said she holds two master’s degrees and is near the top of the district’s salary scale.


“As the only breadwinner in our household of five, I’m also eligible for assistance from the food bank, which I need and get every month,” she said. 


In the last two years, when the teachers have been working without a new contract, she said inflationary pressures mean that they’re seeing effective pay cuts. In that time, she said, her coworkers are seeing material cuts to the days they’re working under new district budgets and increasing sizes of intensive needs classes.


Speakers said that the district’s starting salaries aren’t competitive with others in the state and that some teachers are forced to work multiple jobs — Kenai Peninsula Education Association President Becca Walker carried a sign where 45 staff members had added a tally attesting that they needed to work a side gig in addition to their KPBSD job to support themselves or their families.


Some speakers focused on the way that contract negotiations have felt stalled. Some criticism was directed at the attorney retained by the district for this extended round of negotiations at presumably significant cost. 


“This isn’t about asking for more than what is reasonable, it’s about asking for a contract that reflects the value of the work being done in your schools,” Seward science teacher Dr. Erin Pearce said.


KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland said he was nervous to respond about ongoing negotiations, but that the district had been transparent with the realities of their budget this year.


“I get it’s frustrating,” he said. “It’s a slowdown, the whole thing is for everybody. I get that it is not a place any of us want to be. I hope you know that we keep working through this.”


The draft budget adopted in April includes a 2% salary increase — a district offer made in February — that is projected to increase spending by $3 million. That budget leaves only $500,000 in projected surplus revenue available.


There has been progress since entering mediation, Holland said, highlighting a healthcare proposal approved by the board during Monday’s meeting that would have the district take on more of the split for healthcare costs, among other changes. That proposal now goes to the unions for their approval.


David Brighton, a teacher at Skyview Middle School and a former president of KPEA, said he was frustrated by the decision to “piecemeal” sections of a contract — “I would prefer to see us settle a contract.”


Mica Van Buskirk, who represents the east peninsula on the board, said advancing the healthcare provision is a show of progress that brings “one thing off the table.”


Healthcare, Soldotna history teacher Dr. Paul Marks said, is a lose-lose situation.


“Our school district ends up paying more for healthcare for our employees than pretty much any district, and at the same time our employees end up paying more for healthcare than pretty much any district,” he said. 


Tim Daugharty, who represents Homer on the board and is a former teacher, said he has “very strong opinions” about negotiations but that he is forbidden from speaking on details because of the mediation process.


“We got the wrong people in our crosshairs, that’s about all I can say,” he said.


Holland said that he expects mediation will be resolved soon and then the district can more concretely show movement “in certain directions.”


A full recording of Monday’s meeting will be available at the KPBSD BoardDocs website.