Lakeland district, educators at an impasse
RATHDRUM - After seven meetings and mediation - and getting nearly a month into the school year - an agreement between the Lakeland Joint School District and the teachers union still hasn't been reached.
Negotiating teams for the Lakeland Education Association and school district met on Friday, but the district rejected a counterproposal by the union, leaving it unclear when the sides will meet again.
"We're hundreds of thousands (of dollars) apart - enough to make a big difference," said Tom Taggart, district finance director and the district's lead negotiator. "At this point, I'm not sure if another meeting would be productive."
About 80 Lakeland staff members attended the meeting.
The district earlier issued teacher contracts based on its negotiation and mediation sessions with the LEA. Those contracts include a 1 percent base salary increase. The LEA has about 250 full-time teachers.
"Contracts are in place for the school year; we just haven't come to an agreement," Taggart said.
The district also agreed to pay 100 percent of single coverage for medical and dental plans. The district agreed to pay for a 7.4 percent increase in the employees' base insurance plan. The increase equates to about $85,000.
Taggart said the sides aren't obligated to meet again regarding salaries for the current school year.
"We've done everything that's required by law, including meeting with a mediator," he said.
The LEA proposal on Friday requested that a half of a salary step for experience be restored, which equates to about $70,000. The proposal also included a one-time $600 increase above the district's last offer, which would be spread over the remaining 11 months of the contract year. Those increases equal about $180,000.
Teachers can receive salary bumps with experience and education steps, merit pay and base salary raises.
In a written statement, Amy Galloway, LEA president, said the new proposal took into account the district's increased student enrollment and the subsequent increased funds the district now has available.
"Lakeland teachers are extremely frustrated that the Lakeland School District is the only district in Kootenai County that is not caught up on the experience steps that were frozen several years ago," she wrote in an email to The Press.
"We are still two years behind, yet the district is not doing their part to move in the right direction of placing our teachers where they belong on the pay scale. The LEA believes that the district has the ability to continue to negotiate and should be able to come to a conclusion that can meet the interests of its teachers."
Taggart said the district would like to restore some of the steps that were frozen during the recession, but doesn't believe the district is in a position to do so yet and be fiscally responsible.
"The steps are the big hangup," he said.
Increasing enrollment meant adding 1.3 full-time equivalent staff members and converting a part-time nurse to full time.
"We've added extra staff and spent $30,000 for textbooks for new students, so we're spending money," Taggart said. "We just have to get through a year without dipping into savings."
Just before school started this fall, the sides came to a tentative agreement with a mediator present, but that was later unanimously rejected by the LEA.
LEA leaders said while two steps have not been restored, implementing the Common Core standards has increased workloads.
Neither classified employees nor district administrators fall under the negotiated agreement. Administrators will receive a 1.5 percent salary hike and classified employees will receive 1.5 to 4 percent. Neither of those groups receive education or experience steps to increase their salaries.
Taggart said teams from the district and the LEA have remained respectful of each other throughout the negotiations.