Proposals & Tentative Agreements:

• Proposals

• Tentative Agreements

Additional Info

From ESSA Bargaining Team

August 9th, 2023

ESSA has reached a tentative agreement with the district. In the coming weeks per governing documents we will have a ratification meeting. At the ratification meeting there will be a question and answer periord so all members can make an informed decison. We look forward to meeting with all members.

August 2nd, 2023

You can get more information on bargaining updates in your personal emails. If you are not receiving these please contact the ESSA office to update your information.

ESSA was able to meet with the district July 20th and 24th.

On the first day (7/20) our bargaining team was met with an open conversation with the district. This resulted in several articles being tentatively agreed (TA). However on the second day (7/24), the district reverted back to contrary manners, which was confrontational and gridlocked topics that include safety language, training, onboarding, salary and healthcare.

The next ESSA bargaining team meeting will be Friday August 4th.

July 23rd, 2023

Since Superintendent Meinert started at the beginning of the month, the District has been eager to make movement with contract negotiations. Both FEA and ESSA’s bargaining teams have found the district’s renewed enthusiasm encouraging. You can find more details on the bargaining updates in your personal emails. If you find that you are not receiving the bargaining updates please contact the ESSA office to update your information.

Arbitration is still scheduled for August 7-9th for both ESSA and FEA.

May 23rd, 2023

May 8th, 2023

ESSA arbitration date has been set for August 7th - 9th, 2023.

April 12th, 2023

The district has been unwilling to move on any of our open articles for several months and at this point we are working on getting arbitration scheduled as soon as possible.

January 13th, 2023

ESSA always believes that the health and safety of our students is fundamental for successful education. Whether it’s cleaning and maintenance, technology and communication support, or direct student support; ESSA knows that we as education support professionals are integral for student success. For Fairbanks to have healthy and safe schools, it requires support staff to be both fairly compensated and respected.

The ESSA bargaining team met with the District Friday, January 13th in mediation with a federally appointed mediator. After working with the mediator all day, the team was unable to reach an agreement on the overall contract. Our team successfully pushed back on the District's attempt to impact our winter and spring breaks. Additionally, they also finally convinced the District to agree to language changes around some of our health and safety concerns. The two teams reached Tentative Agreements (TA's) on Articles 7.11, 7.18, 10.2, 11, and 12 (these will be up on the ESSA website soon).

Though the Mediation ended without an overall agreement on many issues, the bargaining process continues with the next step– Interest Arbitration. The arbitration process is required by state law, and can take several months. If Arbitration does not result in a full TA, ESSA could then contemplate a strike vote. A strike is never the goal, but it is a tool we have if we cannot reach an agreement with the District and ESSA has exhausted all possible legal options to complete a successor agreement. 

The District has been unwilling to offer a pay raise for this this year and only a 1% pay raise for next year. In addition, the District will not consider adding a maintenance of standards clause which will address many of the morale problems we have suffered these last few years.  Another large sticking point is the District's inability to consider implementing a more robust onboarding and training program. ESSA has always been willing to work together, discuss, and compromise to find an agreement, but we will never compromise on our principles.

Our team will continue to be open to return to the negotiating table to reach an agreement prior to the Arbitration. Once a date for the arbitration has been selected, we will send another update.

December 14th, 2022

ESSA and the District’s Bargaining Team has scheduled a date with an impartial federal mediator for January 13th, 2023. This meeting is closed and therefore members are unable to attend. Mediation is the typical next step in the bargaining process after both sides have reached an impasse.

The team is looking forward to updating members after this meeting.

November 11, 2022

ESSA believes that the health and safety of our students is integral to a successful education. This can only happen when support staff are both fairly compensated and respected.

ESSA bargaining team met with the District on Monday, November 7th. We countered the District's last package proposal with a new package. Though we made some movements on salary and health care, the District indicated that they were unable to make any additional movements and declared impasse. We agreed that we are at impasse because we are not able to make additional salary and health care cuts at this time. The District still has not accepted our critical language on trainings and boosting morale.

Since both parties agree we are at impasse, the next step in the bargaining process is to bring in a federal mediator to continue negotiations. As soon as we get a mediator assigned and scheduled we will update everyone.

October 25, 2022

ESSA believes that the health and safety of our students is integral to a successful education. This can only happen when support staff are both fairly compensated and respected. 

The ESSA bargaining team met again with the District today. This was our third meeting with the District in the last 10 days. 

Last Thursday the District gave us a package proposal containing all remaining open Articles. In this package, the District proposed a 2-year contract (instead of for 3 years) with a $1000 stipend for the 2022-2023 school year but no raise on the wage schedule. They also proposed a 1% pay increase to the wage schedule for the 2023-2024 school year. 

Today we countered with a 3% pay raise for 2022-2023 and a 4% raise for the 2023-2024 school year. Our package to the District also included many of the language changes we have been fighting for this entire bargain. The District responded to our counter with another package proposal with no changes to salary or training or maintenance of standards, but made movement on other articles, including matching up to a 1% supplemental retirement savings account and language that mirrors the teachers retirement bonus. We will be back at the bargaining table on November 7th at 3pm at the Admin Center. The ESSA webpage will soon be updated with copies of the most proposals.

May 03, 2022 — Video below of our ESSA President Danielle Logan speaking on behalf of our members at the May 3, 22 School Board Meeting. Video link begins at her testimony. The written testimony is below the video

TRANSCRIPT FROM ABOVE VIDEO ON 5/3/22 DANIELLE LOGAN SPEAKING ON ESSA BEHALF REGARDING 5 WORK DAYS BEING CUT :

JENNIFER LUKE, FNSB School Board President: Next we have Danielle Logan. If you will state your name, spell your last name, and give us your area of residence, you will have two minutes to testify. DANIELLE LOGAN, ESSA President: My name is Danielle Logan, L-O-G-A-N, and I reside in Fairbanks. I would like to thank every teacher in this district for the hard work that they do. They are educating the future and deserve so much more than our thanks. I hope the Board will follow the advice of Sandi Ryan in order to give more than mere lip service to the teacher appreciation comments. Of course, ESSA is also in bargaining, and last night ESSA held a town hall focusing around bargaining. We had a large turnout. Members repeatedly said, “I love working with our students, but I don't know how much longer I can do this.” The thing we heard most about, however, wasn't specifically bargaining. It was the five days you cut from the budget for ESSA staff—the five days that will be sprinkled throughout the year, making it impossible to make up through another job. Well, I don't have the exact numbers. It is my understanding that these cuts will save the district between $250,000 and $450,000. I would like to point out that is a fraction of the school district budget. However, this is a huge cut to the member's household budget, a cut many of them simply cannot live with.

Our members are worn out. The last two and a half years have not been the easiest. You have asked us time and time to do more with less, time and time again, our staff have risen to the challenge and have done what is asked of them. They don't feel appreciated and the morale is low. Reinstating those five days is something you can and should do. You have already laid off 47 ESSA employees for next year despite having 30 openings showing today online. In this economy, these members are likely not to come back as they find new jobs. We will lose more employees if these cuts stay in place. There have been openings all year. It used to be that we would have multiple candidates for every job, but now we have jobs going unfilled all school year long. Why would you think cutting their pay by five days will make it any easier to fill these jobs, let alone retain them? If we do get people, our students and our community deserve better leadership from this board. JL: Mr. Sampson? MATT SAMPSON, FNSB School Board Member: Thank you. You mentioned the five days a lot. Can you elaborate a little more about the five days? Clarify what— DL: The five days was cut from the budget before it went […] before the assembly. Those five days will not be made…they will be sprinkled throughout the school year. MS: Would you clarify the five days? DL: I can't clarify those because I don't have that complete information yet. It will be parent-teacher conference [days], spring break, wherever. MS: Thank you. DL: You’re welcome.

APRIL 19, 2022—Video below of our ESSA President Danielle Logan speaking on behalf of our members at the 4/19/22 School Board Meeting. Video link begins at her testimony. The written testimony is below the video

The transcript from Board Meeting:

Thank you, President Luke and members of the school board. My name is Danielle Logan, I reside in Fairbanks, and I am the president of the Education Support Staff Association, otherwise known as ESSA.

Many of our members work paycheck to paycheck, work second jobs, and after school third jobs, on the weekends, and summer jobs, as well. They give all they have for the students of this community while barely having time or energy to help their own families. We are the parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, church members, scout leaders, volunteers extraordinaire in this community, and we are at our limits.

Our members have always cared about their jobs and the students, but as more jobs go unfilled, as cuts take away more and more support, we are forced to skip breaks and lunches, stay past our clocking out, give that much more—because if we don't, the kids will suffer.

Over the past several months I've been hearing more and more from support staff who are angry, worried, and sometimes scared over the directions [our] bargaining for a new contract has taken. I don't have time to list all these issues, but I felt the need to at least make sure you have heard directly from me on the largest concern: Your proposals will result in every single support staff employee to make less money next year than they have made this year.

We all know inflation has risen, but rather than work on lessening that burden like other districts around the state, you have added to it. One member told me that her health care cost could increase by $500 under the district's proposal. She is a single mother of two. That represents one-sixth of her monthly pay before taxes. How can anyone expect to afford that?

Outside of the bargaining process, through the budget, you naturally cut five days of pay from support staff for next year. That is a week less of pay. These days will be spread through the year, so it's not like they can fill these missing pay days with another job. This is a slap in the face. Your bargaining proposal further attempts to cut leave days from Spring Break and Christmas, resulting in approximately 10 more days of lost pay in the year. So that is three weeks less of pay for an employee—can you afford to have three weeks less of pay from your jobs?

Now try doing that on salary of your support staff.

Thank you.