Contract negotiations continue in Coeur d'Alene School District

COEUR d'ALENE — More negotiating is ahead for teams representing the Coeur d'Alene School District and Coeur d'Alene Education Association following a more than two-hour Friday meeting.

This was the third session and the first since the start of the 2024-25 school year. The first two bargaining sessions were held this spring.

A few items gained unanimous approval from both teams, including providing proper compensation for teaching and coaching experience and offering 12 weeks of maternity leave for new moms. Without paid maternity leave, new mothers have to use paid sick leave and take salary hits once the sick days run out.

"I'm a mom who has Irish twins," said Heather Somers, executive director of elementary education and federal programs. "There was no, really, sick leave by the time my second child was born, so I got to take three weeks home with that kiddo, who was premature. I just have to say, it would have been life-changing for our family. This is kind of unprecedented that I'm aware of in this area. It is such a big benefit to our moms."

Scott Traverse, longtime Coeur d'Alene Education Association lead negotiator and Woodland Middle School social studies teacher, said this is a big deal, especially for new teachers who have fewer sick days.

"I've seen this multiple times in my career where somebody comes in and says, 'I've got three weeks of sick time and I'm losing thousands of dollars,'" he said. "This is a huge thing for young mothers, so I feel like I would like to get signatures on that quickly."

A discussion about changing negotiating styles was tabled until the next session. This is the sixth year the teams have used interest-based bargaining, an approach that emphasizes collaboration in lieu of the more adversarial positional bargaining. The teams could not come to an agreement about whether to make it a permanent fixture in the process and whether to include an "escape clause" if this method is not adequate for negotiating teams in the future.

Discussions will continue regarding salaries and compensation for work that falls outside of contract hours.

Salary and contract negotiations historically are complete or near complete by this time in the school year. Coeur d'Alene Education Association President Aaron Hayes said a number of different delays have occurred following new rules made in the Idaho Legislature that made it difficult to make financial decisions earlier this year.

He said enrollment has also caused funding issues.

"Since we decided to delay into September, the enrollment numbers were very different," he said. "It was completely different math starting in the middle of August to late August, for everybody."

Scheduling has created difficulties in moving the process along this year. He said there have been a number of asks by the district to delay or reschedule or shorten meetings.

"That seems new this year," he said. "Historically, the amount of time we spent in May was significant, and those meetings were postponed, and they were shortened by the district because of quorum. That element of them not having the people at the table pushed this very late through the spring."

The next session date has yet to be announced, although concerns were voiced about whether to meet again before or after Nov. 5, when the district's $25 million-per-year, two-year supplemental levy measure will be on the ballot.

"If anything changes with the levy, then the district is not going to be willing to adjust the contract and budget for the contract," Hayes said.

He said he feels like some easy things were accomplished but not enough time was given to accomplish the more difficult items.

"We're still on the table in good, amicable working negotiations," Hayes said.

Superintendent Shon Hocker shared a comment with The Press following the meeting.

He said as a general matter, the district is optimistic the teams will soon arrive at a salary package for staff.

"Our people are the most important resource we have — they are the reason our district is so high-performing," Hocker said. "We know the uncertainty around salaries can cause stress, as does the outcome of the upcoming levy — a levy that funds so many of our teachers and staff. We are committed to reaching an agreement that makes sense for all of us."