It pays to lead

Local school districts are deciding how to spend their piece of the $15.8 million "leadership premium" pie approved by the 2014 Legislature.

The funding goes to teachers who go above and beyond their assigned duties.

Districts are given wide latitude on how to spend the dollars, although they can't be spent on across-the-board raises and they're not subject to the collective bargaining process.

"We are very excited to be able to pay our hard-working staff stipends for the extra work they do," said Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane.

Districts can award premiums of $850 to $5,838, although some districts' premiums will cap at $2,000.

Examples of how districts may choose to distribute the funds include: veteran teachers mentoring new instructors, writing curriculum as schools implement the new Idaho Core Standards, working with at-risk students, after-school tutoring and upgrading school websites to make them more useful to patrons.

The leadership premiums are part of the state's effort to revamp the teacher salary system.

The program funding was previously distributed based on test scores, but has since been revised to focus on individual teacher performance rather than school ratings.

Here's how much local districts were granted in leadership premiums and their progress in determining how to spend the funds:

* COEUR d'ALENE

Coeur d'Alene was awarded $475,150 for leadership premiums. The school board is expected to make a decision on Aug. 11 on a spending plan for the funds.

A committee of 19 - including representatives of the teachers union, district leadership, building administrators and others - met to determine how to spend the funds.

Stipends to be awarded range from $850 to $2,000. They are for leadership positions such as anti-bully coordinators, elementary intervention teams and curriculum assessors, and hard-to-fill positions such as special education and life-skills teachers, psychologists and speech pathologists.

The plan calls for spending an estimated $461,670 of the amount. Unallocated dollars will be used for unanticipated leadership awards.

"This gives us flexibility if some unforeseen or currently unrecognized needs come up during the year," Superintendent Matt Handelman said.

* POST FALLS

Post Falls qualified for $250,000 in premiums. About 25 staff members met in May and June to discuss a spending plan and will meet again in late August. The earliest a recommendation will be made to the board will be in September.

"I have seen Coeur d'Alene leadership recommendations and it appears that our discussions are along the line of what they have done," Keane said. "The largest stipend that our group has discussed is $2,000."

"There seems to be quite a bit of support in the committee to recommend that the district provide stipends for members of the building leadership committees, members of response-to-intervention and/or individual education plan team members, after-school tutoring and enrichment work and mentors for first-year teachers."

* LAKELAND

Lakeland received $212,000 in leadership award funds.

"The focus of those dollars in our district is toward impacting and increasing student achievement," Superintendent Brad Murray said. "In order to meet that goal, we have identified through an application process, approximately 50 grade-level and content-area teachers who will serve as facilitators and are responsible for (implementing curriculum, providing leadership, assisting teachers and analyzing data)."

"The use of any of our remaining funds will be determined next school year."

* PLUMMER-WORLEY

The Plummer-Worley School Board is still in the process of determining how to use the $32,066 in leadership money the district will be awarded, said Superintendent Judi Sharrett.

Proposals including supporting special education teachers, mentors, building leaders and summer school teachers.

"We have many staff members who put in a lot of extra time in the district," Sharrett said. "It is nice to be able to compensate them for the extraordinary time and effort these teachers put into their work. My only regret is not being able to reward some of our equally dedicated classified staff."

* ST. MARIES

St. Maries will receive $53,550.

A proposal was to be discussed at the last board meeting, but last week's storm caused a power outage and the item was tabled until the Aug. 19 meeting, Superintendent Joe Kren said.

"The administration has had multiple discussions with teachers, administrations and of course the board on this matter and how best for teachers in our district to access the funds," Kren said.