Negotiations committee continues bargaining on 2026–27 agreement, agrees on Article III

The Negotiations Committee for the West Bonner County School District #83 met July 21, 2026, at the district office in Priest River to continue bargaining on the 2026–2027 negotiated agreement. Attendees recorded in the meeting minutes included WBCEA representatives Mike McMahon, Amy Cary and Amanda Moran, and district representatives Ann Yount, Kendra Salesky, Kim Spacek and Margaret Hall. The meeting began at 5:06 p.m. and adjourned at 7:03 p.m.

During the session the parties reviewed Articles I–III of the draft agreement. The minutes state that the parties agreed on the proposed changes to Article III. The WBCEA proposed a replacement version of Article II, and the minutes record that the edited WBCEA text "will replace Article II in the Clean Copy." The district also proposed deleting the "Meet & Confer" sentence in Article I and suggested that meeting-related language be considered through Board Committee policy review rather than the contract. No formal vote or final adoption was recorded in the minutes. The next negotiations meeting was scheduled for Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.

The discussions recorded were procedural and editorial in nature: parties focused on where certain language should reside (contract vs. board policy) and on agreeing the working draft language to carry forward. The meeting minutes note that, if a quorum of the board were present, no official board action would be taken during this negotiations meeting.