Cda Teachers To Begin School Minus Contracts

District 271 teachers will begin the school year Tuesday without a new salary contract.

Superintendent Doug Cresswell said negotiations are in process and both teams will meet Sept. 11.

“There’s no talk of a school strike, we just haven’t settled negotiations,” Cresswell said.

Coeur d’Alene Education Association President Judy Hyatt confirmed teachers will start without a contract but will not strike.

Students begin classes Wednesday.

The state appropriation provides a 2 percent increase for salaries, but Cresswell said it takes about 2 percent just to fund increments. Salary schedules have increments for education as well as years of employment.

Coeur d’Alene will be one of two Kootenai County school districts that begin school without a contract. Negotiations have not begun in the Plummer/Worley district where school starts Tuesday.