School will start in Utah the last week of August and with less than six weeks remaining before Utah schools begin classes, 19 of the state’s 40 school districts still haven’t signed contracts with the teachers. This is about average for this time of year, according to an official of the Utah Office of Education. Yet the lateness of the contract-signing is a continuing concern. Traditionally a few districts are negotiating “right down to the wire.” and in rare instances over the years the deadline has been missed at public inconvenience. The Herald believes legislators and school officials should act to establish an earlier negotiations deadline, Moreover, with Governor Scott Matheson planning to propose putting the state budget on a biennial basis, schools might be thinking about going the same route in salary contracts. Alpine District will begin school Aug. 23 this year, first in the state. Yet Alpine is among the districts still without a teacher contract. Most other Central Utah districts are in the same boat – Nebo, Juab, Tintic and Wasatch. In Provo, teachers and district officials have come to terms on a conditional contract, the condition being that the salary increase will be 2 percent higher than that negotiated for Alpine or Nebo. whichever is greater. This harks back to last year when budget conditions dictated that Provo teachers settle for at least 2 percent less than either of the other Utah County districts. Actually Provo was the second lowest in the state. Elsewhere. most of the “big districts” have signed, including Jordan. Granite. Salt Lake and Davis. Logan. Cache and Box Elder in northern Utah are among the clusters of districts with no contract to date. l A Utah Education Association spokesman said the pay increase in districts with newly-approved contracts averages “close to 9 percent.” This includes fringe benefit changes (retirement, leave time, dental care, etc.) negotiated into the settlement, Beyond this. teachers who haven’t reached the top pay step receive an average increment increase of about 3.8 percent. he noted. About 47 percent of the teachers no longer qualify for increments. The disturbing thing about extending teacherdistrict negotiations so late in the summer is that parents. students. teachers and school boards in tardy districts are kept guessing. In a few cases within memory teachers without a contract have “withheld services,” delaying school bells and causing frustration. Last year Jordan teachers hadn’t settled by opening date. but taught anyway without a contract until a negotiated settlement finally was reached in December. Patrons breathed easier when Jordan signed early this year. A negotiator for Alpine and Nebo denied there’s an impasse in talks and is hopeful contracts will result from negotiating sessions scheduled after July 24. Regular talks were held earlier but since midJune other commitments have prevented negotiators from completing the job, he said. Given the fact that 40 contracts must be negotiated each year, and the likelihood that hangups are inevitable, the Herald believes an earlier and more consistent timetable needs to be established for talks. This could be accomplished through a state law that would prescribe a uniform time for contracts to go out plus deadlines beyond which fact-finding, mediation, arbitration or whatnot would be accomplished – looking to an ultimate settlement deadline Aug. 1 or earlier. Public, school districts. and teachers are entitled to at least a month’s assurance that everything is set and that preparations can go forward for a firm school opening date. Regarding the suggestion of going biennial, Governor Matheson is planning in his January, 1983 budget message to propose that the state move to a two-year budget beginning July 1 next year, If the Lesgislature approves the idea. the door might well be open for biennial teacher contracts – which at least, could space out the salary negotiating problem for the 40 districts.