Minidoka teams agree to adopt state pay scale, seek two-step salary restoration for qualifying certificated staff
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Summary
Bargaining teams voted to move district certificated pay to the state salary schedule (removing the local P6 rung) and to pursue a two-step movement for qualifying staff; finance staff warned of short-term fund-balance use under the scenario.
Bargaining teams for the Minidoka County Joint District and the Minidoka County Education Association voted to move the district to the state pay schedule, remove the local P6 rung (moving P6 positions to the state P5 level), and to apply two steps of salary movement for qualifying certificated staff if conditions are met.
Superintendent Spencer Larson and district finance staff presented numbers showing the scope and near-term cost. Daryl said his budget runs had assumed the higher-cost “two-step” scenario for conservatism and that, under that scenario plus the state insurance decision, the district would need to draw on fund balance for a few years. He summarized the five-year projection: “Two steps with the state insurance … at the end, it's looking at year 1, we'd be dipping into fund balance about $300,000. Year 2, possibly about $500,000, give or take,” Daryl said, adding that long-term sustainability depends on offsets and efficiencies.
Bargainers discussed technicalities about state thresholds and who would be eligible for two steps; Daryl estimated roughly 43 staff with certain prior placements could move two steps to AP1 under the state thresholds, and 98 staff in other cells might be affected by threshold movements. The transcript also noted approximately 64 staff in a local P6 rung who would be placed on P5 under the change.
The teams bundled the pay-scale decision with two-step movement and a loyalty-bonus change and voted to approve the package (listed in meeting notes as Option 2: items B, D and E). District staff said the general-fund projections include these higher-cost scenarios to be conservative; Daryl said the district’s June 30 fund balance was about $4.9 million and that it could cover short-term draws but that sustainability would require addressing other budget items and legislative revenue changes.
Next steps: HR and business office staff will calculate individual placement under the state schedule, identify employees who meet qualification thresholds for the two-step movement, and prepare a draft master agreement update for ratification and board review. The bargaining teams scheduled a follow-up meeting to finalize the master agreement language.