Lakeland, teachers agree to contract

Two of three North Idaho’s public school districts have come to an agreement on new contracts for teachers and other personnel.

The Post Falls School District is the only remaining district in the region to have not reached a contract agreement, mainly due to a late start with the negotiation process. At the Lakeland Joint School District, Superintendent Becky Meyer said a new type of method — interest-based bargaining — was used this year.

“It was such a peaceful process,” Meyer told The Press. “It’s all about interest, rather than a positional back and forth.”

Results of the new process, according to Meyer, are that all employees of the district are set to receive a 1.5 percent raise. The district, she added, will also cover a 2.4 percent increase in employee insurance costs.

Using interest-based bargaining, which focuses on all parties collaborating to develop a mutually beneficial agreement, allows all involved to work together around the same table. Meyer said the district was able to work toward a resolution for all of its employees this way, rather than only being able to bargain with relation to teachers’ contracts like in the Coeur d’Alene School District and others.

“It’s this really proactive process and it was really successful,” Meyer added.

Superintendent Jerry Keane said that the Post Falls School District held its second negotiation meeting last week after a delayed start. The meeting, Keane said, was the first time district representatives and the teachers’ union got “down to some of the meatier stuff.”

Currently, according to Keane, the district is offering a 2 percent raise. The union has asked for 4 percent.

“I’m confident we will figure out how to get this done,” he said.

No other meetings have been scheduled, but Keane said the district is in communication with the union to set up another.

In June, negotiations concluded between teams representing the Coeur d’Alene School District and its teachers’ union. The agreement, still tentative and pending board of trustee approval on July 10, stipulates that teachers and other certificated employees will receive a 2 percent pay increase.

In addition to the 2 percent increase in pay, the agreement also stipulates the district will increase the amount the district pays toward teachers’ health insurance. Two additional salary “steps,” geared toward incentivizing teachers to stay with the district beyond 20 years, were also included in the agreement.