Employee compensation is determined bilaterally through collective negotiations. School board and union negotiate compensation along with other terms and conditions of employment, which are memorialized in the district’s labor agreements. Because employee compensation comprises the largest expenditure in a school district’s budget, it is essential that current and projected costs of salaries and benefits, and expenditures for employee compensation, are ascertained to be consistent with board goals. This process is called “costing out” the labor agreement.
