Uinta County School District approves meet-and-confer package that raises certified pay and covers health-insurance increase
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Summary
The district and the Uinta Education Association reached a meet-and-confer agreement that shifts most new revenue to staff compensation and insurance; board members approved ratification at the meeting.
Uinta County School District No. 1 ratified a meet-and-confer agreement that the district says directs the bulk of new funding into staff salaries and health insurance, Superintendent Ryan Thomas told the board.
The agreement, Thomas said, includes a new certified salary schedule that he said puts top-step certified pay “over $100,000” in Uinta County; it also funds a large portion of an insurance renewal. Thomas told the board the total package of negotiated increases and related costs is $1,795,000 and that the district’s health-insurance portion rose by “just over $700,000.”
Why it matters: District officials said they received about $1.6 million in new revenue this year and argued the new package prioritizes employees rather than other program spending. Thomas told trustees the arrangement also includes language making future step increases contingent on state revenues and enrollment: the agreement notes a base or step is “not guaranteed” and “may result in a reduction of staff, salary, and or benefits” in 2026–27 if revenues decline.
Key elements: Thomas reviewed specific pieces of the negotiated package during the discussion. He said the certified salary schedule includes a “goal” of two steps per year on a schedule that totals 50 steps, which Thomas said provides flexibility. Thomas also described changes for substitute pay, food-service and bus-driver pay, and a move to a new SAP salary schedule effective July 1. He said the district moved approximately $225,000 into the Employee Benefit Fund (EBF), including a $125,000 payback that had been used for other district work; he described a plan to replenish that fund over roughly 10 years.
Board action: The board voted to ratify the meet-and-confer agreement during the action portion of the meeting. The formal motion to ratify was made and carried; Trustees voted “aye” and the chair declared the motion carried.
Discussion context and constraints: Thomas and other trustees repeatedly emphasized the scale of rising health-insurance costs and the district’s intent to issue an RFP for insurance consulting and to explore self-funding options. Thomas also said the new salary schedule is intentionally flexible to allow larger or smaller annual step allocations depending on revenues.
Outstanding details: Thomas gave dollar totals for the overall package and the insurance increase but did not provide full line-item breakout for every position category in the meeting; precise per-step numbers for support staff were unclear in the discussion transcript. The board asked for and received assurances that meet-and-confer documents and the new salary schedule were distributed to staff via an all-staff email and a meet-and-confer message video.
What’s next: The board approved the agreement at the meeting. Thomas said staff will continue work with the insurance committee and will bring further budget detail to the July budget adoption meeting.
