The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and the Kenai Peninsula Education and the Kenai Peninsula Education Support associations did not reach a tentative agreement through the closed mediation process that took place Monday and Tuesday.

From here the school district’s negotiation team or the associations, which chose to work together during collective bargaining for teacher and support staff contracts originally set to begin on July 1, may choose to again meet face-to-face or request entering advisory arbitration. 

The next step in the dispute resolution process, arbitration, involves a mutually selected arbitrator to recommend solutions for areas where an agreement has not been reached.

School district spokesperson Pegge Erkeneff, speaking on behalf of the school district’s negotiating team, and KPEA President Matt Fischer and KPESA President Patti Sirois, who were speaking on behalf of the associations, said they will not discuss the content of the mediation. The school district sent out a press release following the conclusion of the process Tuesday.

The school district “is still analyzing and reviewing what occurred in the mediation process,” before they submit a decision to move into arbitration or meet again face-to-face, Erkeneff said.