Why fight? Lakeland, teachers have a deal

By DEVIN WEEKS

Staff Writer

RATHDRUM — Negotiating teacher salaries was peaceful, even enjoyable, for Lakeland Joint School District and its teachers this year.

To the relief of many, the process is already complete.

"We're thrilled," Lakeland Assistant Superintendent Lisa Sexton said Friday. "Our HR director is very happy because she has almost a month more to build contracts for teachers."

Lakeland's school board met during a special session Wednesday morning to vote on the negotiation terms that were agreed upon after about 10 hours of discussion over four Mondays.

The terms include a 3 percent pay increase for all staff, personal leave days that roll over for classified (non-teacher) staff members who did not have personal leave days prior, monetary incentives for teachers who have large classrooms, rollover incentive days for not taking sick time, and an agreement for the district to pay the 6.5 percent increase in medical insurance cost.

The board unanimously moved to accept.

"I think everybody’s feeling really, really good about it," Sexton said. "We managed to cover a lot of ground this year."

This is the third year Lakeland used the Interest Based Bargaining (IBB) technique, which is more of a collaborative discussion than the previous positional bargaining method, where one team comes in high and one comes in low and representatives of both sides hash it out until a middle ground is found.

"In the not-so-distant past, about four years ago, we didn't even settle," Sexton said. "Our teachers were coming to negotiations and they were wearing all black because they were so frustrated … It definitely was not harmonious and peaceful. It was stressful."

With IBB, Team Teacher and Team District don't sit on opposite sides of the room debating — they work together to form one team that works for everyone's best interest.

"Before, there just wasn’t the trust," Sexton said. "We’ve worked really hard at being transparent with the teachers so they understand where the money is and what it’s paying for.

"It speaks volumes when the teacher half of the meeting leaves smiling."

Coeur d'Alene School District will also use the IBB technique, which the Coeur d’Alene Education Association and district officials adopted in 2018.

"It worked very well for us," said Coeur d'Alene spokesman Scott Maben. "We reached agreement on a contract after a few meetings, much earlier in the process than in previous years."

Coeur d'Alene's negotiations will begin during an open meeting Tuesday, May 28, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the district's midtown meeting center.

Post Falls School District and teachers will engage in a more traditional bargaining model, although they have discussed IBB in the past.

"Because of the good working relationship and the general win-win bargaining results we have had over the years with the Post Falls Education Association, we have not opted to change," said Superintendent Jerry Keane. "We have ongoing discussions throughout the year with the PFEA regarding numerous issues that help create trust and eliminate surprises on both sides."

Post Falls negotiations are also open to the public. They begin Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. at Post Falls High School.