Teachers walk away from offer, seek mediation for negotiation

PRIEST RIVER — A request for mediation was made by West Bonner County School District’s teachers union after receiving the school board’s final offer at the July 22 negotiations meeting.

The school board offered to pay the 8.8 percent health insurance increase for teachers, and to continue with step salary raises as well as provide a $500 one-time payment to teachers at the bottom of the pay schedule.

This offer was denied by teacher representatives Wilma Hahn, West Bonner County Education Association president, and team members Elanna Philipoff and Sue Easley.

The offer was not accepted because the school board did not counter their final offer, the association said.

“We were really hoping that you’d give a counter and it really didn’t have to be major,” Hahn said. “We don’t like this.”

Board Chairman Sandy Brower said there was no money left to allocate for salary raises and referenced Gov. Brad Little’s one-percent holdback on education this year, in addition to the five-percent holdback for the following year. The one-percent holdback was enacted in an effort to protect the state of Idaho from financial distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We don’t have extra fund money,” Brower said. “We are going into our contingency to give you what you offered and this is our last and best offer because that’s all we have. If we had it, we’d give it to you.”

Easley argued that it was not a matter of WBCSD’s funding. She said the school district was prioritizing school projects and renovations over its teachers.

“We are looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars being carried over each year and then we are being told there is no money. It just doesn’t add up,” Easley said.

Easley mentioned some of the school district’s tentative projects with a price tag of $425,411, $343,000 and $246,000. “The money is there,” she said. “We are asking you to reprioritize some of those projects.”

Brower held her position throughout the evening. She said the district has been creative in its mission to raise funds for its teachers and offered to organize a local and statewide fundraising campaign with teachers post-COVID-19.

“We’ve got a levy coming up in a year or in the spring,” Brower said. “I was hoping we could work together to get out and get more money from the taxpayers and promote this district and go above the $3 million that we have been doing and get a solid base and higher pay for our teachers. I can’t pull money where it isn’t.”

Easley said she was worried about the number of teachers leaving the district and continued to press the school board on the prioritization of this year’s funds.

“I am really sorry that they are leaving the district,” Brower responded. “Our job is to make sure that we balance our budget. We have got to do improvements, we are mandated by the state to do improvements. We are mandated by the state to spend money we don’t have. This is all we have.”

Both the teachers association and the school board were unhappy with the outcome of the July 22 meeting. Brower called the negotiation meeting “toxic” because of the teacher assocation’s continual counter offers throughout the past few meetings.

“This seriously could go back and forth all day long. It’s toxic,” Brower said. “This negotiation is toxic, I can’t do it. This is our last offer.”

The teacher association made a decision to seek mediation because of numerous conversations with frustrated teachers in their district.

Another negotiations meeting will be scheduled once the school district finds and approves a mediator to conduct future meetings with West Bonner County Education Association.