RATHDRUM - Teachers in the Lakeland Joint School District may have to settle for the district's last best salary offer and work without a negotiated agreement for another school year.

The district and Lakeland Education Association met six times in May and this month, but didn't settle on an agreement.

No more meetings are planned and mediation, which didn't result in an agreement last year when called upon, is not scheduled.

The school board will consider approving the district's last best offer at its meeting on July 13.

The district's last best offer calls for restoring an experience step in the salary grid that had been frozen during the 2010-11 school year, but an additional frozen step during the 2011-12 year will not be restored nor will the LEA's proposed 1.25 percent base salary increase be granted.

"It is the district's priority to restore the remaining step as soon as resources allow," Lakeland Superintendent Brad Murray said. "After unfreezing a step and providing for this year's experience step, we do not have the resources to provide the requested 1.25 percent on the base salary."

Shannon Hall, representing the LEA, said even though an agreement wasn't reached last year or so far this year, teachers will continue to work to provide a quality education.

"However, teacher morale is at a low point due to the continued lack of an agreement with the district," she said. "It also affects the number of teachers we are able to attract and retain each year. While our neighboring districts are caught up on their years of experience, we are not, and until that happens, the tensions between teachers and the district will only increase.

"Until our teachers are paid for the previous year of experience plus start seeing some raises to the salary grid itself, there will continue to be issues."

During the recession, the state froze teacher salaries for two years, which meant no movement on the salary grid for experience coupled with no base salary hike.

"We know that the district not being able to unfreeze all of the steps is a bone of contention," Murray said. "(The frozen steps) are not something that we created, but just have had to bear."

Murray said it's more expensive to operate "neighborhood" schools such as in Athol, Garwood, Spirit Lake and Twin Lakes - areas outside Rathdrum - and therefore it's taken the district longer than some to unfreeze all of the steps.

Murray said the district's goal throughout the school year was to unfreeze the two remaining steps, but state funding limited that plan.

"I understand the sentiment of our staff members who have had steps frozen and we will continue to work toward what is right for them while also working toward a strong district financial position," he said.

Any teacher who will not see a raise based on restoring the experience step will receive an annual $800 raise.

The district will cover the 3.1 percent increase to the basic insurance plan. It pays insurance for the employee only.

Hall said some teachers are being lured away to Spokane, where teachers can make as much as $10,000 per year more, but Murray said the district is staying competitive with Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls.

Both sides say they need to continue in the spirit of cooperation to serve students.

"The LEA is willing to continue negotiations at any time," Hall said.

Murray added: "As we move forward, it is paramount that we work side by side with the LEA in order to re-establish a better working and trusting relationship."