Albert Lea School District teachers have agreed to a proposed one-year salary freeze to avoid layoffs — pending some details, most notably 403(b) annuities.

“If we can do that, we can save quite a few jobs,” said Larry Kellogg, the district’s director of finances.

The salary freeze would apply across the district, if approved, he said. The contract still is a proposal, so on Monday, the Albert Lea school board discussed the proposed contract.

The board worked on an offer for the teachers’ contract for next year in a closed-door meeting Monday evening with the hope of reaching an agreement with before the school year ends.

Teachers will not make any less with the salary freeze. The district and teachers both pay part of the health insurance policy, but the district will pay for the 12.5 percent increase in health insurance rates, which is much larger than the 2.1 percent increase last year, Kellogg said.

It’s likely teachers’ union Albert Lea Education Association will counter the offer, because Kellogg said it’s common for the teachers to shift money from one portion of the contract to another.

The final details of the contract will be presented to the teachers at a meeting Thursday morning. He said he hopes a tentative agreement can be reached at that meeting, but he said another meeting is scheduled for Friday morning.

The annuity issue arose from a measure passed by the Legislature last year that had unforeseen consequences for a handful of districts, including Albert Lea.

The school district faces a anticipated shortfall of $698,000 in next year’s budget. The merit pay and the pay freeze would help overcome that figure.

In early April, the Albert Lea School Board placed 15 1/2 full-time equivalents on the chopping block, which would have affected 21 people. Because the teachers agreed to continuing the merit-pay program, the board was able to rehire 6 1/2 full-time equivalents, which affected 10 people.

Kellogg said the contract doesn’t need to be completed until the end of June, but he’s hopeful it will be done before school is let out, because it will be more complicated to gather all the necessary parties after the school year.

Minnesota school districts also are waiting to see what Gov. Tim Pawlently cuts from the budget that emerged from the state Legislature.