Teachers, K-M board still far apart after mediation session

Members of the Kasson teacher’s union and the school board remained at odds Monday night after an all-day mediation session although both sides remain hopeful an agreement can be reached.
Teachers in the district have been working without a contract since the expiration of the previous one on July 1, 2023. Teachers are currently working according to their contracted hours of 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
When the two sides started the day Monday, they were about $440,000 apart on a new two-year contract. When the session ended in the late afternoon, they had reduced that amount to $346,000 as the school moved $60,000 closer and Kasson-Mantorville Education Minnesota (KMEM) $41,000 closer.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the teachers held a negotiations rally in the high school Commons and also attended the evening’s school board meeting as a group.
In a statement issued after the mediation session, the union said, “KMEM, representing 149 of 150 teachers at K-M, does not believe the current board offer is one that meaningfully addresses the challenges of KMEM teachers as they face rising health insurance costs, inflation, and a salary schedule that does not keep up with comparable districts in terms of compensation for veteran teachers with over 15 years’ experience.”
The school board’s current offer is “unaffordable for too many of our dedicated teachers at K-M,” the statement said. The school board noted several times at the Monday night meeting that it was the district’s “last and final offer.”
Although the board did not directly discuss the contract negotiations, Chairman Kent Harfmann said that Monday’s session had been a positive meeting. He said they met for more than seven hours and while the positions had moved closer there was still a “significant difference. “
Board member Angie Richards said that in the budgeting process the board has to be aware of what is affordable. Harfmann said the decision had been made in the beginning there would be no deficit spending. “I feel at his point it is possible with this offer.” Other board members also expressed a feeling the district is reaching its upper limits at this point. Interim Supt. Dr. David Thompson also added that the district still has the other employee bargaining groups to reach agreements with.
In an earlier discussion at the meeting on the district’s levy amount, Finance Director Bob Hasz pointed out that property values in the district have been increasing in recent years and that affects the district’s adjusted net tax capacity. As property values go up and the district enrollment stays flat, he said, it moves more of the revenue from state aid to property taxes.
A major sticking point in the negotiations between the teachers and the district has been the cost of health insurance. KMEM said that starting Jan. 1, 2024, a K-M teacher will be paying $430 more per month for family health insurance than they did on Dec. 31, 2023. If the teachers accept the board’s latest offer, the union said, it will decrease that amount to a $280 per month increase. That still means that it will cost a teacher an additional $3,360 a year. For many teachers, the union said, that means they would be taking home less money even with a salary increase, especially for veteran teachers.
Several teachers who spoke during the public input portion of the meeting also expressed the same concerns.
As is the case with all public comment sessions at board meetings, board members did not comment on the public input.
Dates for additional mediation sessions were not immediately announced although the negotiations will be continuing with both sides expressing a desire to resolve the situation.