Bill allows pay change
Idaho school district could declare, show fiscal emergency
BOISE – School districts would be able to declare financial emergencies and modify teacher contracts under a bill approved Friday by a House committee.
Last month, House Education Committee Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, proposed legislation to allow teacher contracts to expire at the end of each fiscal year and let districts modify the contracts any time the state declared a fiscal emergency. Democratic lawmakers and the state teachers union balked at the measure.
He came back with a new measure that has gained support from many education groups, including school boards and the Idaho Education Association.
Nonini told the committee Friday that the bill would give individual districts flexibility to make budget decisions that are best for both students and teachers. The bill was approved unanimously and now goes to the full House for a vote.
Idaho Education Association President Sherri Wood said IEA supports the bill because it gives them a voice in the process.
“Teachers in Idaho understand we are facing an economic crisis,” Wood said.
The bill specifies when a district can declare an emergency. For instance, it would allow contracts to be modified if the district’s tax revenue is 5 percent less than the year before or if the district has less than 5.5 percent of general funds left in its budget for the school year. Before contracts could be changed, school boards would have to follow an extensive process, including holding a public hearing and getting comments from the local teachers union.
Several of the state’s 115 districts may already qualify to declare an emergency.
The Council School District, which has an elementary school and combination middle and high school in the western Idaho town of Council, has cut its art and shop programs, summer school classes, athletics and librarian because of the economy.
Wayne Freedman, a Council School Board trustee, said modifying teacher contracts won’t be enough to solve all the district’s budget problems but could help keep things from getting worse.