By mid-December, most teachers in Canyon County’s two biggest districts can expect to receive bonuses based on their schools’ performance last year.

The amount of the bonuses will vary, based on how well the teachers’ school met criteria set by the state and local districts under Idaho’s new pay-for-performance law. Idaho voters will decide Tuesday whether to keep that law — and two other 2011 education laws — in place for the future.

Exact amounts to be distributed in the first year of the program have not been determined, but schools that land full shares under both the state and local formulas are expected to bring in a total of $4,000 per teacher, said Cindy Johnstone, curriculum and assessment director for the Vallivue School District. Other schools earned partial shares.

State officials have said the average bonus will be about $2,000, and about 85 percent of all Idaho teachers are expected to receive a bonus of some amount.

In Vallivue, 11 of 12 schools — about 92 percent — earned bonuses with their performance last year. Only Vallivue Academy, an alternative school, did not.

Here’s a list of the other district schools and the level of bonus earned, ranked from 2.0 (full bonus) to .5:

2.0 bonus:

• Rivervue Academy

• East Canyon Elementary

• West Canyon Elementary

• Central Canyon Elementary

• Birch Elementary

1.5 bonus:

• Lakevue Elementary

• Vallivue Middle

1 bonus:

• Vallivue High

.5 bonus:

• Sage Valley Middle

• Vallivue Virtual Academy

• Desert Springs Elementary

Vallivue bonuses were awarded based on the schools’ ISAT scores and the amount of growth in those scores. That is the formula the state chose for its share of the bonuses, and the district also adopted that approach.

The emphasis on score improvements was a key to the district’s success, Johnstone said, noting that “Vallivue has seen some of the highest (ISAT) growth rates in the state recently.”

The Nampa School District’s chosen criteria included graduation rate, attendance rate and Adequate Yearly Progress, spokeswoman Allison Westfall said.

Seventeen schools — 68 percent — in Nampa earned some level of bonus based on the local and state criteria, while eight schools did not, Westfall said. Bonus amounts are not final, she said, and the level each school earned was not available Friday.

Here is the tentative list of Nampa schools where teachers will receive merit pay:

• Centennial Elementary

• Central Elementary

• East Valley Middle

• Greenhurst Elementary

• Iowa Elementary

• Nampa High

• New Horizons Dual Language

• Park Ridge Elementary

• Owyhee Elementary

• Reagan Elementary

• Roosevelt Elementary

• Sherman Elementary

• Snake River Elementary

• Skyview High

• South Middle

• Sunny Ridge Elementary

• Willow Creek Elementary

The State Department of Education is scheduled to distribute bonus money to districts across the state on Nov. 15, and districts have a Dec. 15 deadline for paying individuals their bonuses. There remains some question about whether this year’s payments would be affected by repeal of the pay-for-performance law Nov. 6.

Boise and Meridian school districts released their list of bonus-earning schools earlier this week. In Boise, four out of five schools qualified for bonuses. In Meridian, three-quarters of schools earned bonuses.

Caldwell School District officials did not return phone calls seeking merit-pay information.

Kristin Rodine: 377-6447