This story has been corrected to note Delton Claggett grew up in Southeast Alaska, not Juneau.
Teachers said they felt the silence in Thunder Mountain Middle School’s crowded library every time one of their coworkers announced they were leaving the Juneau School District.
“I’m a new teacher and you’ve lost me,” said Delton Claggett, who has been teaching middle schoolers for the last three years.
Claggett grew up in Southeast Alaska and said he felt teaching was the best way he could serve his community. But veteran teachers are encouraging him to take opportunities elsewhere.
“I have an employment opportunity in the tourism sector with a company that is practically throwing money at me to keep me around because they recognize my worth and I can’t continue being a teacher if I end up being homeless,” he said.
Teacher contract negotiations were not on the agenda at Tuesday’s Juneau Board of Education meeting, but board members heard many pleas to act.
Contract negotiations between JSD and the Juneau Education Association (JEA) began in February. JEA represents about 275 teachers and certified staff in the Juneau School District.
JEA’s initial proposal requested K-6 educators be provided nearly eight hours of preparation time per week and 9-12 educators be provided more than 8.3 hours per week.
The district’s initial proposal included an average 2.5% salary increase in the first year and a 1.5% salary increase in the second, in addition to step and lane salary movement in both years. It also included a 403(b) 1% salary match language in year two and maintained JSD’s contribution to employee health insurance.
The district and JEA met on May 2. The association’s team presented a package of possible contract language with the goal of settling a deal for next year that would provide labor stability for the district and the association, according to JEA.
Teachers said an unofficial counteroffer from the district on Monday moved backward.
It proposed slashing salaries, cutting middle school prep in half, and removing guaranteed prep minutes for secondary teachers, according to public testimonies.
The offer included an additional $10 monthly contribution to health care, though member rates increased by 15%.
Chris Heidemann, the president of the Juneau Education Association, testifies on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
“They can’t continue to live on that,” Chris Heidemann, JEA president, said.
He said it’s his goal to reach an agreement before the end of the school year. The last negotiation for a three-year contract took 18 months. The current agreement between JSD and JEA expires on June 30.
“Teachers that have a contract and know that they are going to be at least stable for the next year and not losing money because they have to pay for health insurance, provide for a more stable and welcoming district,” Heidemann said. “It is hard, and we experienced this the last time we negotiated; it is hard to work without a contract and keep everything running.”
He said he hopes Tuesday’s testimonies speed up the process because the district is already losing staff.
As of April 3, JSD had 12.8 vacancies for certified teaching positions, with zero hires in process. JSD is one of the largest employers in the community, with about 660 full-time employees, 338 of whom are certified staff. The district is in the process of staffing the 2025-26 school year. The first vacancy report for the next school year will be available this summer.
“We don’t want them to go into the next year having to deal with contract negotiations in addition to everything else,” Heidemann said. “This was about showing the board and the district administration that our membership needs a contract that keeps them whole for next year financially, and in terms of their job protections and benefits that they have currently.”
Rebecca Watts, who has been teaching for more than 20 years, said JSD’s insistence on repealing Article Five, Maintenance of Standards, is concerning.
“Eliminating Article Five would undermine trust, disrupt consistency, and make it even harder to retain educators,” she said. “This protection is essential for maintaining stability in our workplace. This isn’t bargaining. This is backpedaling, and it’s insulting to professionals who show up each and every day for our students and our families.”
The Juneau School District’s initial proposal on February 12, 2025, attempts to repeal Article Five. (Screenshot)
Veteran teachers said they felt especially disrespected by the district’s offer. They said Monday’s attempt to eliminate the pay scale for senior teachers from the salary schedule was a direct attack on the most experienced teachers.
“Never in my time with the district have I seen a contract offer so insulting, asking us to take a cut in salary, prep time and protective language,” said Amber Brewer, an educator for the last 18 years. “It is difficult to see other groups settling contracts with increasing salaries, while JEA is continually told there is no money and expected to do more with less every year.”
Gwenna Corvez, who teaches English and has been with the district for 16 years, said she would get a pay cut of over $5,000.
“This spring, I once again received graduation cards from some of my old kindergarteners,” Corvez said. “I wish you would remember the beauty and importance of those long-term relationships because your current proposals will continue what has already begun.”
Veteran teachers play the most important roles on leadership committees and coach advanced classes, said Jamie Marks, a teacher at Juneau-Douglas High School Yadaa.at Kalé.
“The entire system remains strong when you have veteran teachers leading the way for younger teachers and becoming reenergized by their youth and their creativity,” Marks said. “One day they will be the veteran teachers. Furthermore, the people you are trying to make room for and attract, many have already run out of the district last year. I know people who grew up here and were outstanding educators who left because they could see how unpredictably and poorly they would be treated.”
Other testimonies confirmed stressful work environments following the consolidation.
“Since last year with the move, I never felt more disappointed from the district,” Lupita Alvarez, a teacher at Montessori Borealis Children’s House, said. “I think we were treated without care, without any kind of consideration.”
She said she has been working 10-hour days providing childcare for preschoolers and kindergartners.
“I was informed that I’m expected to have 27 children, ages three to five, for next school year, and there’s no staff,” Alvarez said. “I don’t have the continuity of people trained, people capable of supporting the work we do. How are you expecting me to continue working and serving the children under these circumstances?”
After teaching for 14 years, Tanya Roust said the green apple on her JEA shirt is fading much like the spirit and drive of Juneau’s educators.
“We’re facing more challenging student behaviors and fewer engaged families than when I first started teaching,” she said. “I’ve watched the district lose incredibly talented, joyful, driven educators, people who felt truly called to do this work. We are burning out at a significant rate as the job becomes more demanding of our precious energy. To hear that the district is not meeting JEA in the middle is disheartening and deeply discouraging. It pushes us that much closer to a breaking point.”
Such concerns resonate strongly with special education instructors and parents. Testimonies on Tuesday claimed students in the Developmental Education Communication Classrooms (DEC-C) program have unmet needs because of the staff shortage.
Tim Owen, the outgoing DEC-C teacher at Kax̱dig̱oowu Héen Elementary, expects the problem to worsen next school year. He said he doesn’t even know if there will be a classroom.
“We have 19 of the highest needs students right now in Juneau,” he said. “We have one teacher, that’s me, who’s leaving because of the stress of the job.”
Jason Fagel, the sole physical therapist for JSD, said that if teaching shortages continue, marginalized students will be left behind.
A May 9 proposal from Student Services was discussed in a board meeting on Wednesday.
“We remain committed to working through the formal negotiation process to reach a fiscally responsible and sustainable agreement,” Superintendent Frank Hauser said.
JSD and JEA are legally and ethically prohibited from discussing or negotiating the contract terms outside of the established bargaining process. The unofficial counteroffer on Monday was not released to the public. Hauser said the district values its teachers and staff and recognizes the vital role they play in student success.
The preliminary estimated cost of JEA’s initial proposal is more than $30 million over two years. The Board of Education website states, “The Juneau Board of Education values all of our staff highly and have advocated to the Governor and Legislature to increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA), as it controls the salary and benefits package we can offer employees.”
In a meeting with the state’s district superintendents on May 8, Gov. Mike Dunleavy threatened to veto House Bill 57.
HB 57 increases the $5,960 BSA by $700 and contains some, but not all, of the governor’s priorities. Hauser attended the meeting and said the governor vowed to veto HB 57 and an unspecified amount of the BSA from the budget bill unless open enrollment is included. Dunleavy has until May 19 to decide.
“Lack of funding from our state should not result in lack of support and respect for our teachers and our profession,” James White, who has taught in Juneau for the last 15 years, said. “Please put the pressure on the policymakers above you, not upon those who serve you. Educators are the backbone of our schools.”
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.
