BOISE, Idaho — We're less than two weeks away from election day, when voters in Caldwell will decide on whether or not to approve a $4.1 million supplemental levy for the Caldwell School District, which would primarily fund staffing, athletics, maintenance and security.
The school district is heading back to the drawing board after their supplemental levy failed to pass by less than 2% in May. This is the first time in more than 50 years where Caldwell Schools have not had funding from the supplemental levy.
A group of parents have been pushing to pass the levy, which allocates money to the following resources:
- Certified and Classified Staff: $2,000,000
- Athletics: $500,000
- School Safety and Security: $350,000
- Accelerated Learning Program: $125,000
- Facilities Maintenance: $500,000
- Transportation: $625,000
The security funding would pay for school resource officers - or SROs - which the district lost when their supplemental levy failed to pass.
"The primary thing that comes to my mind right away is it would increase school safety," Caldwell parent Sam Stone said. "One of the big things that was lost when the levy failed was the loss of SROs."
The district previously had four SROs, but due to the cuts voted to hire three private security officers just before the school year started.
"While the district is doing what they can with private security to keep kids safe, you can't really replace what a school resource officer can bring," Stone said. "So what I know primarily is that's one of the big things that would be able to come back with the levy passing."
The levy is estimated to cost taxpayers $75.55 per $100,000 of taxable assessed property value per year.
The Caldwell Schools levy would need a simple majority of voter support to pass during the Nov. 5 election. More information about the levy can be found on the school district's website.