Teachers, district reach agreement on salaries, benefits

After months of negotiations since two general fund levies totaling $591,454 passed in May, Bigfork School District 38 and the Bigfork Area Educators Association have come to an agreement on teacher salaries and benefits. Bigfork teaching staff will receive an 8% increase on their base salary for the 2020-21 school year and 1.5% for each of the subsequent two years. They will also receive $600 toward health insurance premiums, up from $564 the year prior, a $1,855 stipend for those with a master’s degree, a one-time 3% bonus and an additional step on the salary schedule. Teacher salary schedules include “steps,” referring to years of teaching, and “lanes” referring to a teacher’s level of education. Teachers advance in steps for each year worked until they reach the top, earning about 3% more each year according to Superintendent Matt Jensen, and can also move lanes by obtaining more education.

The levy was originally put out to voters as a means of bridging the gap between Bigfork teacher salaries -- especially those at the top end of the scale -- and educator salaries at other local institutions. For example, the previous maximum a teacher could earn at Bigfork Schools was $69,892, where other institutions offered between $76,840 and $88,000 for an equivalent position. The new maximum is $71,966, including the master’s degree stipend.

Letters addressed to the community emphasized that the majority of the levy funds would be allocated for teacher salaries and benefits, but also included objectives for the remainder of the funds, namely restoring previously cut line items like textbooks and curriculum.

The two parties had been unable to come to an agreement since their first meeting in mid-July and used the assistance of a mediator to help the process along. Offers from the district ranged from a 7% increase to a matrix ranging from 5-8%, plus stipends and other benefits. The BAEA initially countered with an offer outlining a 15% raise and later, one for 9% plus five additional steps.

BAEA President Rhonda White said Bigfork employs a lot of teachers who have reached the end of the salary schedule and can’t get an increase unless they obtain more education, which isn’t always feasible nor financially viable.

“Those people don't get any different compensation so as health insurance and other expenses go up, they don't see any improvement,” White explained. “It makes it so we are struggling to keep up.”

She said there was relief among the staff that the salary negotiations process was over, but also concern that the 1.5% increase for the two following years would put Bigfork behind other districts -- again.

“On both sides we probably weren't happy. It was a long hard process. We worked to try and get some other stipends … it wasnt so much the 8%, it was the 1.5% for the next two years,” she said.

The district on the other hand, wanted to balance the need for teacher salary increases along with other interests within the school system. When the board’s finance committee first began planning for the levy at the end of 2019, they wanted to allocate funds for things like the school resource officer, textbooks and curriculum. Now, they will have to whittle that original wish list, which once amounted to over $470,000, down to $92,648 worth of supply lines and instructional programs.

In addition to increases for Bigfork’s educators, administrative staff saw an 8% bump, which did not include added benefits like stipends or bonuses, while classified staff also received an 8% base salary increase, with $600 for health insurance and a 2% bonus. In total, teacher salaries and benefits amounted to $378,994, or 64% of the levy, while classified staff and administration utilized 21%, leaving 15% for restoring previously cut items.