Teachers, districts in accord
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
With student and parent suicides becoming more common, mental health counseling is becoming an increasing benefit offered in negotiated contracts between school districts and teacher unions.
A new benefit to the recently ratified Lakeland Joint School District contract, which gives a 2.25 percent pay increase for all employees and coaches, is an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that allows for up to five grief and counseling sessions.
"In the past two years, we have had three student deaths by suicide," said Assistant Superintendent Lisa Sexton, adding that there have also been multiple parent deaths by suicide. "After the recent suicide of a Lakeland High student, it was realized how badly staff needed to talk to somebody."
Sexton said the need for such a benefit is an unfortunate sign of the times.
"We had never even talked about this need before," she said.
The benefit will cost the district $17,000.
Lakeland details
Other Lakeland cost highlights include:
- $554,240 for the across-the-board pay increases;
- $348,115 for salary steps for experience for certified staff;
- $128,252 for salary steps for experience for classified, administrative and extra-curricular staffs;
* $63,100 to cover for the 3.15 percent insurance premium increase; and
- $65,000 to cover insurance of full-time employees 100 percent instead of 83 percent.
The total estimated cost for the negotiated agreement is $1.3 million.
Sexton said the agreement was reached after five meetings and nearly a month before the end of the school year, a stark contrast from two years ago when a mediator was called upon and meetings extended past summer and into the new school year.
"It was one of the most peaceful and shortest negotiations we've had," Sexton said of this go-round.
The teachers union approved the contract 110-16 on the first vote.
Lakeland had its second year of interest-based bargaining (IBB), a strategy that has been used by an increasing number of other Idaho districts. Both sides begin by sharing their interests rather than declaring their proposals in the traditional approach. The teams then develop agreements that satisfy common interests and balance opposing interests.
Cd'A reaches tentative deal
Scott Maben, Coeur d'Alene School District spokesman, said his district used IBB for the first time this year and found it to be beneficial to strike a compromise, as well.
"Everyone seems to think it made a huge difference — a very transparent, collaborative way to negotiate," he said.
The Coeur d’Alene Education Association, district administration and Coeur d’Alene School Board on Thursday reached a tentative agreement that includes a 1.5 percent base salary increase for all certified staff. In addition, certified staff will receive an additional hike if student enrollment increases in the fall.
Maben said the additional amount is unclear at this time.
"We won't have those (enrollment numbers) certified by the state until February 2019," he said. "So the increase would be retroactive to the start of the school year, and would be on a sliding scale, with small, incremental steps, based on the state's unit-based funding formula.?"
Classified staff such as bus drivers, classroom assistants, kitchen staff, maintenance and office staff will receive a raise in base pay of 1.75 percent.
The CEA will hold its ratification meeting Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the cafeteria at Woodland. Representatives from both negotiating teams will attend and be available to answer questions. The school board will vote on the tentative agreement at its June 4 meeting at 5 p.m. in the Midtown Meeting Center.
The teams also agreed to contract language to address a shortage of substitute teachers; recognize an additional year of experience on the salary matrix for experienced teachers new to the district; increase the stipend for high school coaches and advisers of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities; provide elementary teachers and specialists with more class prep time; and keep benefits whole.
"We are very pleased with how the IBB process worked and how well we were able to work together," said Scott Traverse, a Woodland Middle School teacher and lead negotiator for the CEA. "We are pleased with the package as a whole, but we really encourage our members to show up Tuesday to our ratification meeting so we can explain the entire package in detail."
Trina Caudle, director of secondary education and lead negotiator for the board team, described the IBB process as "rigorous and positive."
"The process brought a higher level of collaboration and transparency when diving into the nuances of the budget, staffing and operations," she said. "It was refreshing to roll up our sleeves together and tackle common problems and issues. Both teams are pleased to offer a robust package prior to the ending of the school year."
The district and CEA teams met in all-day sessions on April 26, May 10 and May 16, then had a follow-up meeting on Thursday to discuss revised state revenue figures.
"If the CEA and board ratify the agreement, we’ll conclude before the end of this school year — much earlier than in previous years," Maben said.
Coeur d'Alene already offers an EAP that has a mental health component.
Post Falls in talks
Meanwhile, Post Falls and the teachers union there have had two meetings and will meet again on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. at Post Falls High.
"It is too early in the process to be able to predict how long it might take," Superintendent Jerry Keane said. "However, we are making progress."
Jacob Smulkowski, lead negotiator for the Post Falls Education Association, agreed.
"Our two meetings have been very productive, and we believe the school district is continuing to do a great job of taking care of students and employees," Smulkowski said.
Keane said Post Falls has used IBB in previous years, but not recently because agreements have been struck relatively quickly. Post Falls does not offer an EAP with a mental health benefit.