School attendance remains flat in Kootenai County

Growth is a hot topic in Kootenai County, but it's not being seen in attendance numbers in the county's public schools.

The Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland Joint school districts will not pursue emergency levies again this year.

At the start of each school year, K-12 districts have the option under state law of exercising elective taxing authority, without voter approval, for property tax relief when more students show up than expected. The money covers the cost of educating additional students not yet included in state funding and not budgeted for. Eligibility is determined by comparing the current year's average daily attendance during the first week of school with that of the previous year.

"We are not seeing tremendous growth over our numbers at the beginning of the year," Lakeland Superintendent Lisa Arnold told The Press via email Friday. "However, even if we had, I would not have recommended an emergency levy to the board. Our patrons just passed the supplemental and plant facility levies. We would not have added to that tax burden."

Post Falls Superintendent Dena Naccarato said her district will not be seeking an emergency levy because they, too, did not see an increase in enrollment.

None of the three school districts sought emergency levies last year either. Coeur d’Alene School District reported an additional 22 students, but school officials said at the time that they considered the increase to be minor and that they had the means to cover any additional costs for those students.

School district officials would not speculate why the growth North Idaho is experiencing is not reflected in enrollment numbers. However, earlier this year, Sam Wolkenhauer, economist with the Idaho Department of Labor, shared a presentation with the Coeur d'Alene School District Long Range Planning Committee regarding Kootenai County's aging demographic and lack of young families.

"The birth rate here is too low to support any kind of growth," he said in the February presentation, published Feb. 28 in The Press.

"It's a little bit spooky for us because it means we're dependent on people moving back," Wolkenhauer said. "By extension, the health of our demographics and the size of the school-age population is very strongly linked to people moving to Idaho, the health of the housing market and the job market, and being a destination state."

Last year, Coeur d’Alene school officials pointed to a reason they were likely not seeing enrollment growth in public schools, one that is an ongoing issue in the region; a lack of availability of affordable homes in Coeur d’Alene and Hayden. More empty-nesters and retirees were moving into the district than families with school-aged children.

School officials last year also noted that families have more options for students other than public schools, such as charter schools, private schools and online learning.