Connect with us

Star Tribune

Tentative deal with teachers could result in staff cuts at Anoka-Hennepin

Avatar

Published

on


Union leaders are touting what they call an unusually generous package of pay raises for 3,200 teachers in the Anoka-Hennepin school district, but district leaders say the tentative deal — which has yet to be voted on by union members — will almost certainly lead to discussions about staffing cuts.

Under a compromise agreement reached through mediation a week ago, teachers would see average pay climb by 5% in the first year of the new two-year contract and 3% in the second year, both sides confirmed Friday. The deal is retroactive to June 30, when the last contract expired.

Those pay raises would cost the district $35 million more than it had budgeted for teacher salaries over the next two years, district spokesman Jim Skelly said. Anoka-Hennepin received $66 million from the state Legislature last year as part of a $2.2 billion boost for public education, but almost all of it is needed to fund the various parts of the teacher deal, Skelly said.

Val Holthus, president of the Anoka-Hennepin union, said the “monumental” aid package created an opportunity for the union to negotiate the best contract she can remember. Under the new deal, Anoka-Hennepin teachers would start at $50,000 a year while veterans could earn as much as $100,000 annually.

“We knew that funding was intended for the classroom,” Holthus said. “And based on the fact that we have a significant teacher shortage right now, we need to do everything we can to attract and retain teachers.” The district currently is down 20 teachers.

Union members will vote on the agreement on Feb. 14 and 15. If members sign off on the deal, the package would go to the Anoka-Hennepin School Board for final approval.

“I think there is a sense of relief that the parties were able to come together with an agreement that the teachers would support,” Skelly said.

The budget-busting deal could shape negotiations in dozens of other school districts that are still bargaining with Education Minnesota, the union that represents more than 84,000 school workers across Minnesota. Anoka-Hennepin is the state’s largest school district. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul teachers have yet to strike a deal.

Some districts have already agreed to pay increases of as much as 8% in the coming year, according to officials with the Minnesota School Boards Association. Those gains are expected to cause widespread belt-tightening.

“Obviously people are happy to get the contract settlement, but in the end it will mean having to make budget adjustments going into the future because school districts are required to have balanced budgets,” said Scott Croonquist, executive director of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts.

When mediation started in Anoka-Hennepin, the district was offering a 3% raise this year and a 2% raise in the 2024-25 school year, Skelly said. He said the district also agreed to boost its contribution on health insurance by 5% this year. Next year, that contribution will increase another 5% for individuals and 10% for families.

Teachers also are getting a one-time bonus of $750 under the deal, Holthus said.

One item that was not negotiated: student-teacher ratios. Though the Legislature allowed collective bargaining over class size last year, Anoka-Hennepin leaders did not make any proposals on ratios because leaders want to maintain as much flexibility as they can without being tied to contract requirements, Skelly said.

Killing the new law is a priority for the state school board association, according to the group’s website.

Holthus said the union also didn’t seek smaller class sizes but instead sought additional pay for special education teachers who spend extra time in the classroom and elementary school teachers who deal with unusually large class sizes.

“Realistically, we would have to have some more school buildings to get significant movement on reducing class sizes, so we came at it a different way,” Holthus said.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Star Tribune

Converting office buildings to housing could save downtowns, but at a cost

Avatar

Published

on


Transforming the heart of both downtowns, which have much larger buildings than old warehouses, is going to take a lot more money, creativity and time. Josh Talberg, managing director at downtown Minneapolis brokerage JLL, said with no major apartment buildings on the drawing board in either downtown, the fleet of empty office buildings present a golden opportunity to create more housing and lead both cities in a new direction.

“You can can certainly see the fundamentals improving, and you can feel that vibrancy, and that’s ultimately the foundation that’s needed to get investors to reinvest in the city,” he said. “But it’s not as if these 18-wheelers can turn on a dime.”



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Star Tribune

Release of hazardous materials forces closing of highway in southeast Minnesota

Avatar

Published

on


The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.

Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.

No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Star Tribune

Civil suit against MN state trooper who shot Ricky Cobb II is dismissed

Avatar

Published

on


A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.

The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.

Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”

On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.

With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.

In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024 Breaking MN

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.