Board, union approve contract despite petition

By JUDD WILSON

Staff writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Classified employees and allies at the Coeur d’Alene School District asked the school board to return to the negotiating table Monday night and find a way to increase classified pay by 3 percent, with no hikes in insurance costs.

However, board trustees finalized the 2018-19 negotiated agreement.

Superintendent Dr. Stan Olson said he agreed with the more than 240 petitioners. “We recognize that we have not done enough for classified employees.” However, rather than make “a quick fix to rob Peter to pay Paul,” he advised the district to methodically study the issue during the upcoming school year.

“The current structure for compensating classified employees is out of whack and has been for some time,” Olson said.

Board member Tom Hearn and board chair Casey Morrisroe expressed their commitment to continue to work on the issue.

Randy Lancaster and Kyle Erickson started the petition drive after it seemed classified employees had once again gotten the short end of the stick in negotiations.

“We had been told by the superintendent, after last year’s negotiations, that a classified wage study would be done this year and negotiations for the 2018-19 would include a focus on classified retention. Now we are being told that this will be done next year,” Erickson said.

He said that occasional cost of living increases have been more than offset by real-world expenses. Erickson also pointed out that the district does not prioritize classified employees in its budgetary decisions. This spring, the district sent representatives from each district school to a conference in Denver at a cost of thousands per person, and recently paid 11 percent over market value for land on Prairie Avenue, he explained.

Coeur d’Alene Education Association President Bruce Twitchell explained that procedurally the only way to go back to the negotiations table would have been for the school board to reject the negotiated agreement. The union voted to approve the contract last Tuesday.

“It is not possible for the union to go back on its decision at this point,” Twitchell said.

However, the agreement received only 86 percent support by CEA voters, which made it the least-supported negotiated agreement in recent history, he added.

“That really says that people recognize that we did the best with what we had, but they’re not happy, and I don’t blame them. They shouldn’t be happy.”

Twitchell said the CEA supported the classified employees’ desire to get a 3-percent raise, but that the state’s funding was inadequate for that and other spending items.

“The CEA believes 100 percent that they deserve that raise. There’s no doubt in my mind. They deserve more than that. But all the new money from the state has been spoken for. It’s this very small pie that the state sends to us and we have to divide it up so everybody gets a piece. We tried to do what we could.”

Certified employees and administration will receive a 1.5 percent pay raise, while classified employees will receive a 1.75 percent pay raise, according to Twitchell.

Erickson said those numbers do not paint an accurate picture.

“We take issue with the CEA and the district saying that classified employees’ 1.75 percent raise is bigger than the teachers’ raise at 1.5 percent. It is disingenuous to say that since teachers get stipends, pay bonuses based on attendance, and other financial incentives.” The real increase for certified employees tends to be in the 6 to 7 percent range, he said.