The union that represents support staff for the Juneau School District is suing the district over its afterschool child care program.
Juneau Education Support Staff, or JESS, filed a lawsuit Monday alleging the district didn’t follow the necessary steps in the union contract when it shut down the program last month. The union represents paraeducators, custodians and employees for the Relationships and Leadership Learning for Youth program, known as RALLY.
Auke Lake Preschool was the only private provider that stepped in to fill the gap. The Juneau-based provider is leasing space at three elementary schools rent-free to run an afterschool child care program called Auke Lake RALLY. That’s been run by Auke Lake Preschool since Sept. 2.
The district’s agreement with the union requires the district to go through an investigation to see if it would be cheaper to contract out work that’s normally done by JESS employees. That’s followed by a report to the union. Superintendent Frank Hauser said in an email the district followed the terms of the contract and reassigned former RALLY staff to other district positions
Jeff Kasper is a business manager for the Alaska Public Employees Association, the parent union for JESS. He said the district didn’t view the lease as contracted work.
“We’ve tried to work with them on this and ask them, ‘Where’s the analysis?’” Kasper said. “And then they’re [sic] just fold their arms and say ‘This isn’t contracting out.’ So we feel this is an intentional and blatant violation of the contract.”
The union asked the court to void the district’s lease with Auke Lake Preschool and to require the district to continue running RALLY until it completes the formal investigation process. JESS is also pursuing damages from lost wages and work. That would be determined in a trial, and the union claims that could cost more than $100,000.
The union also requested a temporary restraining order. It asks the court to prevent the district from passing the RALLY program to Auke Lake Preschool. Instead, the union is requesting RALLY employees remain at their negotiated positions until the lawsuit is resolved. But Auke Lake already started running the program early this month. Superintendent Hauser said RALLY employees have been reassigned to different positions in the district.
Kasper said he could not speak to what would happen to the afterschool program if the request is approved. The district issued an update on its website Wednesday that says Auke Lake Preschool will update families directly if there are any changes.
Juneau School District Chief of Staff Kristin Bartlett said in an email the district is working with its legal counsel to determine next steps.
“If the restraining order is granted, there will not be afterschool child care,” she said on Wednesday afternoon.
The attorney representing the district declined to comment on the case Wednesday.
