'Living in two worlds'

COEUR d'ALENE — The loss of the Coeur d'Alene School District's March levy elections heavily weighed on the minds of those who are tasked with looking at future endeavors during a Monday meeting of the district's long-range planning committee.

"As of today, we are having to plan as if we don't have an operational levy, a supplemental levy piece, as well as our plant facility levy," Coeur d'Alene Superintendent Shon Hocker said.

The failed school plant facilities levy, also called the safety and maintenance levy, would have for five years funded $5 million a year to the district for deferred maintenance projects to improve crumbling sidewalks, failing heating and cooling systems and other facility and equipment needs. This levy came as a recommendation from the long-range planning committee to school board trustees last June after committee members conducted site visits and found deferred maintenance projects to be the district's No. 1 priority.

The facilities levy failed at the polls in August and again in March.

"The long-range planning committee is integral in regards to our facility needs and long-term planning," Hocker said. "That levy, as you know, required 55% to pass and just barely fell short."

Since the $25 million-per-year perpetual levy — which funds 25% of the district's budget — also failed in March, "we've been kind of living in two worlds," Hocker said.

"It has really been tough to figure out what schools to close and make that be a thoughtful process, not just throw darts at a board and say, 'There's the couple schools we need to close,' when we know we need to close one and maybe two schools," he said.

If the proposed $25 million-per-year, two-year levy fails again at the polls May 16, the district will have to go through the arduous task of identifying 25% budget cuts, which means a large volume of positions, Hocker said.

"When you're talking budget cut, you're talking people, and that's where we're at today," he said. "It's been tough, it's currently tough and it's going to be tough for the next three weeks or so until there's a line in the sand."

Committee member Brian Waddell commented on factors that were involved in the levy failure.

"It's a little disappointing that we had as many parents of students voting 'no' that we did," Waddell said. "I live in my shell, I get it. But I felt like the opposition did a much better job than the district may have done in marketing what it's for and getting the word out there."

He said he didn't see any public service announcements or much marketing from the district, "but the opposition went to great lengths to really scare people."

"But nothing they said was true," said committee member Nancy Hart, who sat near Waddell.

"That doesn't matter if what they say is true or not, they scared people into voting 'no,' so that just makes the district's work that much more difficult," Waddell said, adding that the district may need to change its tactics to motivate people to vote "yes."

"People don't realize how much of a deal it is," committee member Christina Harris said.

The committee unanimously voted to move its next meeting date to May 22, at a location to be determined, so members will know the outcome of the levy vote and can proceed accordingly with long-range planning.