COEUR d'ALENE - Teachers smiled, cried and hugged one another after school Thursday at Borah Elementary School.

They had just been given $12,100. The funds were donated by the Borah teachers' fellow educators from schools throughout the district, along with contributions from several community members.

"Your colleagues know you work as hard as everybody else in this district. You are appreciated," said Sandy Midgley, a Lake City High School teacher who helped spearhead the donation effort.

Under the now-defunct Students Come First Laws, the state department of education deemed 449 Idaho schools qualified to receive a portion of $38 million in pay-for-performance money for teachers.

Borah was the only school in Coeur d'Alene with teachers that didn't qualify for any merit pay for their work last year.

The determinations were announced in Coeur d'Alene on Oct. 30. The law called for the funds to be sent to schools on Nov. 15 and distributed on Dec. 15.

When teachers in Coeur d'Alene learned that their peers at Borah would not be receiving bonuses, they began planning a way to pool some of their own merit pay dollars to give to the Borah teachers.

Lake City High School teachers Tim Sanford and Derek Kohles joined Midgley to present the money to the Borah teachers during a meeting in the school's library.

"People from all over the community recognized the inequity and unfairness," Kohles said.

Sanford reached into an inside coat pocket and pulled out a large stack of cash bills. The Borah teachers appeared stunned for a moment.

When Sanford said the amount was $12,100 and fanned the 100s, 50s, 20s and singles across a table in front of the teachers, many of them were moved to tears.

"It's for you to do with what you wish," Sanford said. "We just want you to know how much we appreciate you."

After receiving the money, several Borah teachers said it was the community's support that meant the most to them.

Dianne Pratt said the state's decision was hard on the school's educators, and hard for them to understand.

"We make our AYP (adequate yearly progress) goals, and we have tremendous growth at this school," said Pratt, who has taught at Borah for 25 years.

The state's merit pay determinations were based on students' scores on the ISAT (Idaho Standards Achievement Test).

"Now we can move forward knowing this community supports us," Pratt said.

Voters on Nov. 6 rejected the state's education reform laws, including the pay-for-performance plan. The laws were officially repealed on Nov. 21. The state attorney general's office issued an opinion that schools could distribute the funds to teachers in December.