Another meeting has been scheduled for Thurs., April 3, ahead of the next mediation session which is set for Friday, April 11, according to Supt. Dr. Stephen Malone.

 

Appearing for the BEA at the meeting were negotiators Mike Klassen, Ben Pany, Jason Baune and Dan Olson, while the school board was represented by committee members Lori Molus, Mark Swanson and Bryan Olson.  Also at the table were Malone, Becker School District Business Manager Joe Prom and BEA field representative Darrell Beaty.

 

According to documents presented by the district at the meeting, the latest BEA offer includes a two-year agreement with a sum percentage increase of 8.966 percent, and a total cost of $15,077,974, compared to $14,428,988 (4.50 per cent) in 2013-14 and $13,811,795 (4.47 percent) in 2012-13.

 

The meeting began with an overview of district finances from Prom, which included information on state aid totals for the coming years, as well as costs and projected expenditures and a comparison of general fund expenditures of the district fund balance through 2012, which showed the Becker district at 11.8 percent in 2009, compared to 14.5 percent state-wide.  In 2012, the state average was 22.9 per cent, with Becker schools at 4.1 percent.  He also presented figures showing the district with a positive variance through the 2015 school year, with the 2016 figures dipping into a negative balance of $72,000.

 

Committee Member Bryan Olson cited comparisons with school district in the immediate area (See chart on page ?), and said that Becker was “about average” in terms of teacher compensation, which he also said was “not a bad thing”.

 

Olson also said that the annual fund balance has been on a “downhill skid” since the 2010-11 school year, when staff cuts were deemed necessary to balance the budget.  He called the current situation “stable” for the moment with a slight upward trend, but he also stated that the “difference can’t be made up over night.”

 

Following those comments, the BEA presented their latest contract offer, after which the committee caucused for an hour before returning. They then informed the BEA negotiators and the audience that they have a counter proposal which they would like to present to the BEA at a meeting next month. 

 

The board committee also asked that the meeting be held in private, to give them an opportunity to fully focus on their presentation of a proposal which was described as “complicated and creative”.  

 

In a written comment later in the week, BEA President Eric Austin stated that “while we are ready to meet and negotiate in public the board would rather decisions be made behind closed doors.”  The next negotiation session is set for Thursday, April 3, with the next mediation session set for Fri., April 11.