District, paraprofessionals headed to mediation

Finding a balance between funding streams and paying school district staff adequate wages in a time of inflationary pressures is challenging, Cloquet superintendent Michael Cary told school board members Monday.

The Cloquet public school district received a 2-percent increase in state funding equating to roughly $300,000.

The money will be used to give staff members throughout the district a raise. The district has already settled contracts with its secretaries and principals, but they’re still negotiating with paraprofessionals and custodians.

Paraprofessionals in the district are asking for a raise that would cost the school an estimated $1.3 million annually for the unit of 100 people. The two sides are headed to mediation later this month.

Cary said the district is trying to be generous, but responsible.

“While we respect all of the work that they do, and appreciate all of the work that they do for us, when we get $300,000 in new money, we can’t afford to spend $1.3 million on just one of our units when we’re giving all of our employees nominal raises,” Cary said. “All of us are experiencing the same inflationary increases.”

Cary said the district has probably agreed to give a little more than it actually received because of the increased cost of living.

The school district is short-staffed when it comes to full-time paraprofessionals and other entry level jobs. Cary blames the district receiving only a 2-percent budget increase.

“You take a look and historically school positions used to pay better at those entry level jobs than what the private sector did,” Carey said. “A symptom of having 25 years where we never get more than a 2-percent increase in funding is that over time the private sector has been able to increase what they charge for their goods and services and increase the wages that they are able to give entry level workers.”

The board members noted that if the district remains short-staffed it may be a necessity to hire more floating paraprofessionals that travel between all of the schools in the district.

Carey finished the meeting hopeful the district and its staff can reach a negotiation on their raises.

“We have a fiscal responsibility to make sure we keep the district in a strong financial position, and so we’re working through things as best we can with our groups and we’re hoping to come to a productive conclusion with all of them,” Cary said.

Also Monday:

• The board voted to close open enrollment. Current enrollment sits at 2,570 — 13 lower than last year at the same time, when the count was 2,583. Pre-pandemic the district was averaging closer to 2,600 students, Cary said. Students who move into the district can enroll any time. Cary said closing down open enrollment is important for the stability of classes. “I still think our section sizes in the district are in a pretty good spot,” he told the board.

• Board members voted to hire high school social studies and economics teacher Tim Stark as head CEC Nordic coach, replacing Arne Maijala, who resigned. Stark has been the assistant coach since 2018 and is an experienced Nordic skier.