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Cliff Buchan
News Editor
A tentative contract agreement has been reached with teachers in ISD 831, Superintendent Lynn Steenblock reported to the school board Thursday night.
Terms of the two-year agreement call for salary schedule improvement of 1 percent in the first year and 3 percent in the second year, Steenblock said on Friday.
Dollar amounts tied to the settlement offer were not released.
Members of the Forest Lake Education Association were slated to vote on the settlement agreement on Wednesday, Jan. 9, Steenblock said at the school board meeting.
If the teachers ratify the proposal, the school board will meet in special session at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 10 for its ratification vote.
The new contract covers the two-year period starting July 1, 2007 and ending on June 30, 2009. Teachers in Forest Lake have been working under terms of the expired contract since July 1, 2007.
By law in Minnesota, districts are required to have new teacher contracts in place by Jan. 15, 2008 or face the loss of state aid. Districts not reaching contract agreement run the risk of losing $25 in state aid based on the district's average daily weighted members. That would be approixmately $200,000 to ISD 831.
Steenblock said he hoped the settlement is a message to state legislators that districts can not operate on 1 percent revenue increases when the cost of living and inflation is pushing up operating expenses by 3 percent a year.
He said school districts should be allotted new revenue to cover inflationary expenses at a minimum and then allow districts to “live within their means.”
He said the tentative agreement with FLEA was reached during a negotiations session in late December.
“We’ve come to an agreement we both can live with,” Steenblock said.
On Friday, Jim Lindstrom, chief negotiator for FLEA, said the contract was being backloaded to save money in the first year and help the district prepare for anticipated budget cuts in the 2008-2009 school year. The settlement was difficult, he said, based on the limited budget and the district's declining enrollment.
He was optimistic the district's 484 teachers would ratify the agreement on Jan. 9.
"My gut feeling is there are a lot of disappointed teachers," Lindstrom said. "Is it a great contract? No. I hope it's one we can live with."
Q Comp vote is next
The ratification vote for the two-year contract is just one of two key votes facing teachers this month.
Steenblock said teachers will be asked to vote on extending the Q Comp agreement with the district on Jan. 21. He said the extension will cover two contract years rather than the one year that the existing agreement covers.
If approved by the staff, the special compensation plan for teachers would be in force for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years.
The program rewards teachers for meeting goals and is designed to help teachers improve student achievement.
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