The Lakeland teacher union's overwhelming rejection of a contract proposal for next year won't likely result in changes to the agreement.

The Lakeland School Board will impose its last best offer on Monday after 96 percent of the voting members of the Lakeland Education Association rejected the offer on Tuesday, but district and LEA officials both said changes aren't expected due to the lack of funding.

Meanwhile, the Post Falls School Board unanimously approved a teachers contract for that district on Tuesday night after the union had ratified it.

The LEA vote came after the district and union negotiators reached a tentative agreement.

"(The LEA vote) is disappointing because the district has been working with the association (on a proposal)," said Tom Taggart, the district's finance director. "This sort of undermines the trust that has been built. There was no indication during negotiations that this would happen."

Carrie Scozzaro, outgoing LEA president, said members were polled about their vote, which reflects discontent with the district and state's approach to funding.

Fifty-nine percent of the voting members said they disagreed with both the district and state's approach to funding, 27 percent disagreed with the district's position on funding and 14 percent disagreed with the state's approach.

"As far as a reaction, we've never tried to predict the outcome of a vote," Scozzaro wrote in an email. "That the members voted no in such numbers speaks for itself."

She declined to comment further on the vote.

The school board has until June 22 to finalize the contract. Until recent law changes, negotiations may have continued into the summer.

"The new laws do not allow for mediation or other options and since the compensation issues are likely to remain unchanged, it would not make sense to return to the table (before Monday's meeting)," Scozzaro wrote.

Taggart said that, with the LEA vote nearly unanimously rejecting the proposal, he'll recommend to the board to approve the contract as is without any tweaking.

"If it had been a much closer vote, we would have tried to meet (this week) to discuss things that could change a small majority," he said, adding that making major changes would be unlikely due to the lack of funding. "We'll just finish up the school year, issue a contract and regroup with the leadership to figure out how to work together from here."

Lakeland's proposal funds experience and education steps, but has no change in base salaries for the fourth straight year. Teachers who wouldn't see an increase as a result of the steps would be given either a $360 or $480 per year increase, depending on where they are on the salary schedule.

"Our offer went beyond some other districts," said Taggart, adding that some districts' plans only allow for educational steps to increase salaries and don't allow for any hikes of teachers not helped by steps.

A 2.55 percent increase in medical premiums and a 3.1 percent decrease in dental rates are also proposed.

Post Falls' agreement freezes base salaries for the fourth year in a row, allows for educational steps to increase salaries and freezes experience steps.

The insurance plan is proposed to be changed from a $200 deductible to $350 and reduces the amount the district pays for families from 74 percent to 71 percent.

Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane said an increase in health insurance costs prevented the district from doing more for salaries.

Contracts for both districts do not include furlough days.