Board reports tentative support‑staff agreement; teacher talks go to mediation with dollar gap noted

Board members reported progress in labor talks and set a date for mediation with the teachers’ bargaining unit.

Negotiations staff told the board there is a tentative agreement with the district’s care/education support professionals; that group will vote on the package and is expected to report back by the December board meeting. Officials described the package as increasing average compensation roughly in the range of $2,362 per employee when accounting for salaries and benefits and said they added a step in year two to raise beginning salaries.

Talks with the teacher bargaining unit remained unresolved on finance. The board confirmed mediation with Education Minnesota for Dec. 19, and negotiators described a remaining gap of several percentage points. One board member said the shortfall could be "over $400,000," and a staff presenter later specified that a 3% gap equates to about $420,000 over two years.

Board members said they aimed to have a resolved teacher contract ready for possible board action in December; if not, approval would move to January. The board asked staff to post negotiation summaries and clarified that mediation would be a full‑day session.