Pay cuts stave off CdA school job losses

Teachers, librarians and counselors in the Coeur d’Alene School District have voted to take pay and benefit cuts to save jobs.

Nurse’s aides, classroom assistants and other support staff who faced unemployment will keep their jobs, said Steve Briggs, chief financial officer.

“It’s a very positive result,” he said. “The goal of saving jobs was accomplished.”

Teachers and certified staff whose contracts called for 5 percent raises next year agreed to scale those back, taking 2.5 percent increases.

Additionally, they approved a 3 percent increase in their insurance premium contribution in a vote Thursday night, said Paula Marano, president of the Coeur d’Alene Education Association.

“I feel relieved,” she said. “Because of the economic situation, we were worried about the fallout.”

The wage and benefit concessions will save the district more than $2.4 million. The district still has a $2.7 million gap to fill.

Reductions still are planned in the advanced learning and remedial programs, and the district’s travel moratorium remains in place, school officials said. Athletic teams won’t attend invitational tournaments, which will save on transportation costs. Also, the district will not buy new math books during the 2009-10 school year.

Before the district’s certified staff could agree to reductions in their pay, Superintendent Hazel Bauman had to declare a financial emergency. She did that earlier Thursday in a meeting with the school board.

A new state law allows school districts to reopen teacher contracts to negotiate adjustments in pay, hours or contract length under such emergencies. School administrators and union leaders made the decision together, officials said.

“Part of the consensus was the hope that we’d be able to help,” said Marano, who represents about 1,200 educators.

The district said early in the budget-cutting process its priority was to save jobs. The union clearly agreed.

“We are in the business of educating children,” Marano said. “We have to keep that in mind.”

The union also was mindful of the potential perception of voters, who in April approved a $7.8 million-a-year levy for the next two years, if staff were cut.

“We appreciate the community continuing to support our levies,” Marano said.

The contract’s end result was better than many expected, she said: “One educator said, ‘I feel like I’m in a dream, and this is a really happy dream.’ ”