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The big business of public education

by ELLI GOLDMAN HILBERT
Staff Writer | July 14, 2021 1:07 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — Three district superintendents spoke Tuesday to the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber of Commerce about the business of education in Kootenai County.

Heidi Rogers, the chamber board's chair, emceed the event.

“You guys get it," Rogers said. "With nearly 25,000 students and 3,000 employees, these guys run a business and let’s not forget that.”

At the chamber’s Upbeat Breakfast, a packed house heard from Dr. Becky Meyer with Lakeland School District, Dr. Shon Hocker from Coeur d’Alene School District, and Dena Naccarato, representing Post Falls School District.

Meyer has served as superintendent for the Lakeland District for the past six years. Overseeing around 4,600 students and 650 full-time employees, it's no small operation.

“It is a business,” Meyer said.

According to the state, she explained, each student is equal to a number. Noting that the way attendance is taken has changed because of COVID-19, Meyer emphasized that attendance numbers are the foundation for how school districts are funded.

Reiterating the comparison of education to business, Hocker said, “Obviously this is a business. We are all in this together.”

A healthy business community, he said, is closely intertwined with healthy schools — they support each other.

As with any business, there are challenges.

Among concerns are the bonds and levies public schools depend on.

The Post Falls District’s yearly budget of $45 million, Naccarato said, does not fully pay for operations. Support from bonds and levies passed by the citizens of our community are vital to the daily function of our schools, she added.

“It fills the gap between what we get from the state and what we need to actually run our business,” Naccarato said. “Supplemental levies are absolutely fundamental; they’re not supplemental.”

Meyer echoed concern about needed support from the community.

Recounting a failed Post Falls levy request presented in March, she joined in a public rally to raise support for her neighbor school district. The levy passed the second time it was presented to constituents.

“I stood on the corner for hours and hours, with signs saying vote yes for kids,” Meyer said. “There were people there from outside our state, people that were not even living in our state, standing there, saying don’t vote.”

Meyer believes that a pointed effort is being made against public education in our state. She called on local businesses to lead the charge in supporting public schools.

“You as businesses can help support us just by reinforcing what we do on a daily basis,” she said. “To help kids and help them learn what they need to do to be successful citizens.”

A widespread labor shortage is having a dire effect on all three districts, the superintendents said.

Districts struggling to retain quality teachers and staff are seeing key positions left unfilled for months on end.

With candidates able to go to work right across the state line for substantially more pay, it doesn’t make sense mathematically for some to stay employed in Idaho, they said.

Naccarato listed several positions her district has been trying to fill: school psychologist, speech and language pathologist, life-skills coach and a teacher for the visually impaired among them.

Many open positions provide vital special services to children in the community.

Hocker’s concern is that our local schools seem poised to struggle with the same issues affecting other resort towns.

“I am fearful from an educational perspective that Coeur d’Alene is starting to emulate some of those exact same challenges,” he said.

He said the possibility exists that local kids intending to pursue educational careers in their own communities will eventually be unable to afford living in the area.

In response to unprecedented cost of living increases, Naccarato said the Post Falls District is losing 15% of its teachers to Washington just this year.

Regardless of the challenges, the passion to serve local children keeps all three superintendents forging ahead.

“Our three school districts do an amazing job,” Meyer said. ”If you look throughout the entire nation we do not have the problems that you read about in the paper and hear about on the TV. We’re graduating responsible citizens to help the future of the world.”

Info: cdachamber.com 208-664-3194