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Approaching the last minute

by MAUREEN DOLAN
Staff Writer | August 11, 2014 9:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - With the first day of school just three weeks away, teacher contract talks are ongoing in Coeur d'Alene.

Negotiating teams representing the school district's board of trustees and the Coeur d'Alene Education Association last met July 30. That session ended with teachers union negotiators turning down the school board's fourth proposal since negotiations began May 12.

"The last offer is going to cut people's take-home pay," said Derek Kohles, CEA president. "That's our primary concern, that employees are being made to pay for cuts, and this is in a year when we've got additional revenue."

Kohles, while not a member of the teachers union's negotiating team, has attended the negotiating sessions.

The school district's 2014-15 budget submitted to the Idaho State Department of Education includes a general maintenance and operations fund of $64.9 million. That includes $1.6 million more state funding than the district received in 2013-14.

The school board's last proposal to the teachers union did not include any base salary increase. The teachers union's most recent proposal calls for a 1 percent pay hike.

Facing a $500,000 increase in the cost of employee health insurance, the school board's July 30 proposal includes an offer the board's negotiating team claims will save the district $172,740 and reduce the new insurance costs to $330,581. To realize those savings, employees' insurance co-payments would rise from $25 for regular office visits and $40 for specialists, to $30 and $60. Employees would be responsible for a higher coinsurance percentage, paying 30 percent rather than the 20 percent for which they are now responsible. The district would also reduce the amount it contributes toward family health premiums by 2 percent, down from 69 percent to 67 percent.

The teachers union is calling for the school district to cover the full $500,000 insurance premium hike, with no change in coverage for employees.

They each propose that eligible employees receive pay increases for "steps and ladders": compensation reflecting years of service and additional education earned. But the school board says it will cost the district $700,000 to provide those pay increases, and the teachers union contends the "steps and ladders" balance out each year at no cost to the district because higher paid, senior teachers retire and new teachers entering the grid are paid far less.

That's one of the sticking points. Both sides are in disagreement about how much money is on the negotiating table.

The actual amount available won't be known until the district's budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year, which ended June 30, is audited later this month.

School board negotiators are projecting that there won't be much money left over this year, unlike last year when a projected fund balance of $4.9 million turned out to be $7.1 million, after the budget was audited.

"I have a lot more faith that we're going to be very close this year," said Superintendent Matt Handelman.

Handelman said he does not want to see the negotiating teams get into the habit of waiting until the audit is completed to settle the teachers contract.

"That's not a healthy practice," Handelman said.

Last year, the teachers union and the board reached an agreement in August, before the audit. It was based on the $4.9 million fund balance projection. They later reopened the master contract and used the extra money to fund a 2 percent pay increase that is now a permanent part of each employee's compensation.

In 2012, the fund balance came back $1.3 million higher than expected. Under that year's agreement, the district and the teachers agreed to split the remaining money, with the employees receiving a one-time payment.

"I think they do have a much better handle on it this year," Kohles said. "But they also seem to have made a bunch of decisions before negotiations about how to use that money."

Contract negotiations are scheduled to resume Aug. 18 from 4-6 p.m. at Woodland Middle School.

Kohles said that if an agreement isn't reached, they can continue negotiating or could try and go to mediation.

"One of the options is that we can start without a contract. That's not a desirable option for anybody," Kohles said.