Cd'A School Board special meeting Friday
The Coeur d'Alene School Board will consider a ballot measure for March 2023 during a special meeting at 10 a.m. Friday in Midtown Meeting Center, 1505 N. Fifth St., Coeur d'Alene.
The two-year operating levy supporting the Coeur d'Alene School District expires at the end of this school year. Trustees will meet to discuss a replacement levy for the March ballot, in order to continue local funding for public schools.
In Idaho, school districts receive most of their funding from the state, but that funding falls short of what districts need to fully support their operations. The current Coeur d'Alene levy provides $20 million per year for two years, which funds 23% of the district's annual operating budget.
At an Oct. 17 board workshop, Superintendent Shon Hocker recommended the district seek an increase of $5 million per year in the local levy. The proposed increase would address higher costs from inflation and would help the district stay competitive in hiring by improving pay for teachers and classified staff. Recruiting and retaining employees is an ongoing struggle for the district because of the appeal of higher-paying jobs in the marketplace. Increasing the local levy to $25 million per year would help keep employees in local schools and attract job candidates for positions that are vacant and difficult to fill.
Hocker also recommended the board consider asking voters to approve the local levy in perpetuity, rather than keep it on a two-year cycle of renewal. State law permits school districts to ask voters to make their school levy permanent if the levy has been in place for at least seven years. The district's levy has been approved by voters 18 consecutive times going back to 1986.
If approved in perpetuity in the March election, the levy amount would be fixed. The district would not be able to levy more without going back to voters to ask for an increase in the cap. The district would no longer need to go to voters every two years to renew an expiring levy.
Hocker also briefed the board on the state of deferred maintenance and school safety needs in the district. The safety and maintenance levy that was on the Aug. 30 ballot fell short of the 55% "yes" votes needed. That proposal sought up to $8 million a year for 10 years. Hocker proposed a more modest safety and maintenance levy of $5 million per year for five years to address the most critical school maintenance and safety projects across the district. He recommended the board place that question on the March ballot as well.
Friday's meeting is scheduled for 10-11:30 a.m. It is a workshop, and public comment will not be taken. It will be streamed on the district's YouTube channel.
Info: cdaschools.org