RATHDRUM, Idaho — The aftermath of a failed school district levy in North Idaho continues. Lakeland Joint School District held a school board meeting on Monday, Dec. 9th to discuss how they will make the $9.5 million in cuts.
Budget Considerations
- Need to cut about $1 million in transportation costs
- The board did not have a clear answer on how this would be made possible.
- Close down one elementary school and move students across the district
- School officials say this would help the district save money on facility and staffing costs. However, some members of the board like School Board Trustee, Bob Jones, showed concern to the potential of increased class sizes.
- John Brown Elementary was one building that was mentioned by Superintendent Lisa Arnold due to its old and expensive structure.
- Move to a four-day school week
- Arnold said, this could save between $300,000 to $400,000 between staffing and facilities costs.
- In 2023, the district spent around $140,000 for guest teachers on Fridays when teachers were absent.
- This consideration would mean school buildings could not be in use at all during that one day a week.
- Cut full-day Kindergarten
- The board discussed moving kindergarten back to a half-day schedule to relocate funding elsewhere.
- Jones, questioned what the cost for midday transportation would be to support a half-day kindergarten schedule.
- Get rid of snowplow contracts
- Currently, school officials noted that current snow plow contracts are about $135,000. The board brought up the potential to use government surplus vehicles and do snow-plowing themselves.
- Pay to Play
- The board stated students would pay $1,800 each to participate in school athletics.
- Modified work day
- Arnold introduced adjusting teachers' planning periods to the end of the day to reduce staffing. This would eliminate the need for extra staff coverage during the day for planning periods.
- However, Arnold stated this could only be possible if the district kept a five-day school week. She said there would not be enough time in the week to work through additional meetings staff would need.
- Digital Programs
- The school district says digital Programs like Skyward cost about $191,000. During the meeting, the board discussed the potential to reallocate funds to support expensive but needed digital programs.
- Grants
- The board discussed the opportunity to apply for more government grants to supplement for lost funding
Moving forward, the school board says they want a pros and cons list from the administration on all considerations, with an additional costs and savings list included. The school board will meet again on Dec. 18th.
Jones said running a new levy at $3 million is still not out of the question. However, his colleague, Michelle Thompson, responded that a second levy at a lower dollar amount is not a viable plan if it does not pass.
KREM 2 did reach out to the school board and the superintendent for direct comment, but did not hear back.