BOISE, Idaho — COVID-19's short and long-term impacts on the Boise School District are finally beginning to clear up after the district sent out a letter to parents of students this week about its budget.
“It is difficult there's no doubt about that,” said Boise School District spokesperson, Dan Hollar. “We anticipate, estimate that over the next 14 months, we're looking at between an $8.5 to $9 million budget shortfall and that takes into account the governor's 1% holdback for this school year.”
That amount also takes into account a 5% budget cut for the next fiscal year, which Gov. Brad Little has indicated will likely happen.
“There's a lot of uncertainty obviously from the standpoint of the public health crisis that we face, but what we know right now is there is also an accompanying financial crisis along with that,” Hollar said.
Hollar explained the district is trying to plan accordingly and keep students and parents informed about what's happening and make sure they understand that these are serious times. The district has already started making cuts related to the summer school program and paused capital projects in the works.
“The capital projects, we want to be clear about that, the bond that was passed by voters back in 2017, those bond dollars are still there and we are committed to those projects, however as of late, we have seen an increase in construction costs,” Hollar said. “Based on the uncertainty of the budget at this current state we felt it was prudent to pause those projects.”
The letter to parents and students was part of an effort to be as transparent as the BSD says they can be about the district's budget.
The district is also looking ahead to next semester. “We've got a great team in place to do some research as it relates to what the fall may look like whether it's in-person learning or more robust, rigorous online learning that allows us to be nimble in that regard,” Hollar said.
He added that there is no solid plan right now, the school board has to first approve the budget in June.
KTVB reached out to other school districts in the Treasure Valley, most of them said it's too early to comment and they're still working on a plan.