COEUR d'ALENE - Teacher contract talks resumed Monday in the Coeur d'Alene School District, with some new faces, a little brighter budget picture and a new health insurance proposal that could save the district nearly $1 million in premiums.

Tom Hearn and Christa Hazel, two of three newly sworn-in trustees, are now on the board's negotiating team. They replace Tom Hamilton, who just began the third year of a four-year term he was elected to in 2011, and Brent Regan, who lost his trustee seat to Hazel.

"I'd like to see us start off negotiations with this mostly new board with an attitude of collaboration and cooperation, and not an adversarial relationship which has been a problem between teachers and the board at times in the past," said Hearn, in a statement he read at the start of the session.

Hearn, who is now the board chair, said he respects teachers and supports their right to organize to seek favorable working conditions and fair pay.

"I am not naive. I have run businesses before and I have had to balance the budget and I know that there may be some tough negotiating ahead," said Hearn, a mental health professional with a private practice in Coeur d'Alene.

New Trustee Dave Eubanks attended and observed Monday's negotiations, as did Terri Seymour, who was elected at the same time as Hamilton. They joined about 30 people who watched the negotiating session held at Lakes Middle School.

The board's team presented a district budget update with new projections that leave the district in slightly less grim financial shape than previously expected.

A $3 million budget shortfall projected last fall has been reduced to $1.5 million. The gap has been filled, in part, with a $538,000 reduction of "sequestered funds savings" that were in the budget. Originally, $738,000 had been set aside in anticipation of federal funding cuts to mandated items.

"We don't think it's going to be as bad as we thought it was," said Kelly Ostrom, the district's human resources director and the board's chief negotiator.

Additional savings will be realized by cutting 4.5 full-time certified positions. This will be done by not filling existing vacancies.

The bulk of the remaining $1.5 million shortfall will be relieved by the board's new insurance proposal, if it is accepted by the Coeur d'Alene Education Association, the local teachers union. The new plan would save the district $929,000.

For the employees and their families, the deductible would go from $200 per person/$400 per family, up to $750 per person/$1,500 per family.

The district would reduce the amount it contributes monthly toward the family premium from $700.38 to $677.60.

The premiums themselves would go up by 1.77 percent.

For a family of two adults and children, the employee's premium contribution would increase from $986 to $1,003 per month.

The co-insurance amount will also change. Under the current plan, claimants pay 10 percent of the cost of care, after the deductible is met. That will change to 20 percent, if the teachers union accepts the board's proposal.

Members of the Coeur d'Alene Education Association said they need time to consider the proposal before responding.

"We feel good that it's a fresh start," said CEA President Kristi Milan, following the meeting. "We feel that we have always negotiated in good faith. We want to do what's best for the community and for the children of the district."

The next negotiating session will take place July 25 from 1-4 p.m. at Lakes Magnet Middle School, 930 N. 15th St.