PALMDALE DISTRICT, TEACHERS TURN TO MEDIATOR FOR CONTRACT.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Three months after declaring impasse in contract talks, Palmdale School District representatives and teachers union officials will meet with a state mediator today to try to break the deadlock.

Teachers have gone the past four years without a pay hike and are asking for a 4 percent raise retroactive to July 2003 and fully paid medical insurance.

The district, needing to make $6 million in spending cuts next year, says it can't afford a raise and needs to set a limit on employer contributions toward teachers' health insurance.

``When the teachers union demands a raise double the costs of living they're really saying cut other jobs to afford this,'' Superintendent Jack Gyves said in a statement released by the district.

Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association President Simone Zulu said teachers are showing their frustration by attending board meetings. About 250 teachers and other employees packed a board meeting last week in response to the stalled contract talks and the pending cuts.

``They want to cap benefits. We want to keep the benefits that we have. That does not mean we are not willing to discuss things like co-pays. They haven't sat down and said, OK we need to do this as a group,'' Zulu said. ``Benefits has been one of the things we have fought for all these years. We gave up a lot of things to keep benefits.''

The contract talks are for the school year 2003-04.

Palmdale is among two Antelope Valley districts this year in which teacher contract talks came to an impasse. The other is the Westside Union School District.

In the Keppel Union School District, the district and teachers union headed back to the negotiating table after teachers in January voted down a proposed contract.

Palmdale officials said teachers pay no contribution to the insurance premiums of what has often been referred to as the ``Cadillac Plan'' of health insurance.

The insurance plan, which includes medical, dental, life, vision and prescription insurance coverage, has no deductibles or co-payments, except for $5 or $12 co-payments for prescriptions.

``The costs of the health insurance premiums have more than doubled since 1999,'' Deputy Superintendent Lori Ordway-Peck said in the district statement. ``The district cannot continue to absorb the increases without passing on some of the cost to employees or modifying the health insurance plan.''

Palmdale officials had been offering to pay for health insurance coverage costing up to $15,550 starting in the current school year, which they said was about $4,000 more than offered on average by other districts in the valley. Officials said the total cost of medical benefits probably would not exceed that cap for 1 1/2 years.

District officials now say they have had to rescind that offer due to ``increased economic woes stemming from the rising cost of health insurance, escalating workers' compensation rates, declining enrollment, as well as (Gov. Schwarzenegger's) budget,'' according to the district's statement.

The board is expected to make a decision on cuts at its March 1 meeting.

The district has made $23 million in cuts over the past five years, officials said.

The district cut $12.5 million from its 2003-04 budget and switched from a multitrack year-round calendar to a traditional schedule to save money.

In April, the trustees voted to reduce workdays for about 75 staffers and leave three counseling positions vacant, in a total cutback of about $3.7 million, but two months later rescinded about $500,000 worth of cuts when more state funding came in.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com