Following seven months of negotiating, the Nampa, Idaho school district finally has a 2016-2017 contract for its teachers. The final settlement came when the school board approved the contracts, bringing an end to several weeks of mediation. The mediator had been called in to facilitate discussions in August.

According to those familiar with the mediation process, the district was better able to understand where teachers were concerning the tentative salary schedule and how much turnover it should expect from teachers in the coming months. Until mediation, the district had no idea how to rank teachers and how to place them into different salary categories.

The district is home to approximately 850 teachers. When negotiations began in March 2016, both sides submitted a series of proposals that included salary requirements, health insurance, sick and personal leave, bereavement, workday details, and an employee grievance procedure. One of the  major sticking points in negotiations was health insurance costs, which are shared by teachers, the district, and employees.

A tentative agreement had been reached in July concerning medical insurance benefits, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement concerning salaries. It was at this point the two sides requested the assistance of a federal mediator and a date was set for mid-September for mediation.

The mediator separated the two sides and listened to the opinions and requests of each. By the time mediation was complete, the district agreed to cover $300,000 of the more than $800,000 health insurance increase, and on the same day, reached an agreement concerning the teachers’ salary increase.