Cd'A determines levy amount

COEUR d'ALENE - Voters in the Coeur d'Alene School District will be asked on March 12 to approve a two-year supplemental maintenance and operations levy of $12.9 million per year, plus an additional $1.4 million the first year to cover the cost of school safety enhancements.

Trustees set the levy amount during a special meeting Tuesday at the Midtown Center.

Superintendent Hazel Bauman said the board's intent was to keep the base amount of the levy at the same level approved by voters in 2011. That levy expires at the end of June, and makes up about 21 percent of the district's $60.2 million annual fund budget. Replacing the $12.9 million per year for two years would not raise taxes, Bauman said.

"The question then, is how do we structure the ballot so that the enhancement for safety and security measures, which are capital improvements, can be added to year one, and still provide choice for the voters because that will increase taxes slightly," Bauman said.

Bauman told the trustees the safety measures would cost between $1 million and $1.4 million and would include improved "perimeter safety" by shoring up fencing, gates and doors; improved video surveillance measures; classroom doors that teachers can lock from the inside rather than by going out into the hallway and fire doors that lock during lockdowns; "swipe card" access systems; and vestibule security that would allow school personnel to identify individuals seeking to enter buildings prior to "buzzing them in."

The front entrance modifications would cost between $325,000 and $455,000, Bauman said, with much of the difference being aesthetic. The more expensive route would allow schools to continue to appear welcoming rather than like prisons, she said.

The safety measures were determined in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting last month, and were developed at the recommendation of local law enforcement agencies.

Trustees decided against cutting any corners on the school safety plan, and approved the full $1.4 million, which is estimated to raise taxes by $23.80 for one year for the owner of a home with a taxable assessed value of $200,000 after the homeowners exemption.

Not everyone agreed with the board's decision to keep the base levy amount at $12.9 million per year.

"I believe that the levy amount should actually be raised. We have cut to the bone, and this district is doing miracles in spite of all the cuts that we've done year after year after year. I know, I've sat in negotiation meetings," said Kristi Milan, the president of the Coeur d'Alene Education Association, the local arm of the teachers union.

Derek Kohles, vice-president of the CEA, also told the trustees that he thinks the levy amount should be increased by $4 million. Kohles said he has attended every board meeting in recent months.

"In the discussion about this levy amount, there has been no discussion about what will be cut. If we have a $3 million shortfall, which is what Mr. Wardell said, and we have another $1 million in safety and security expenditures that need to be made, and we set the levy at the same amount, we're going to be cutting $3 million," Kohles said.

He reminded the board that they decided to cut the International Baccalaureate Diploma and Primary Years Programmes last fall, citing concern for the students.

"I think this board needs to put that at the center of this discussion, what will be the effect on our programs and our personnel from an insufficient levy?" Kohles said.

School officials began discussing the pending $3 million budget gap publicly in September, stating it was the result of the loss of one-time federal stimulus dollars.

Bauman and several trustees said they believe taxpayers may not approve a higher base levy amount.

"I empathize with your request, and I'm not saying that I disagree at this point after learning what I've learned about the way education is funded in this state, and in fact even in the nation, what our priorities are as a people is a concern to me," said Trustee Jim Hightower. "It's a concern to me when I hear legislators at the state level talking about the priority of roads and bridges. Roads and bridges or the education of our children, really?"

Board chair Tom Hamilton said the entire board recognizes that there is a problem with school funding at the state level, and said they are in contact with state legislators about it.

"Part of the concern for me, is that if we keep filling the gap on the backs of our local taxpayers, the state doesn't get themselves in a position where they have to acknowledge they've created a problem," Hamilton said.

The trustees decided on a simple ballot that asks voters to approve a two-year supplemental levy of $14.3 million in the first year and $12.9 million the second year. If approved by voters, the levy will provide $25.8 million for school district operations and maintenance, and $1.4 million for the security enhancements.