No emergency levies for local school districts

North Idaho's three largest school districts will not pursue emergency levies for the 2024-25 school year.

Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls school districts did not reach the enrollment numbers necessary to qualify. Although the Lakeland Joint School District did qualify, its leaders have opted not to go for emergency levy funding.

Idaho's school boards may request emergency fund levies upon all taxable properties in their districts after certifying needs to county commissioners before the second Monday in September each year.

Average daily attendance must be tallied during the first three days of school to confirm emergency levy eligibility, according to Idaho Code. If the number of students in the current school year is higher than the previous year, school districts may levy emergency funds without taxpayer approval to cover costs of supporting the education of those extra unexpected students.

Post Falls started last school year with 5,871 students and began this school year with 5,814 students.

"We used to expect to qualify for emergency levies as our enrollment was increasing 1-1.5% each year," Superintendent Dena Naccarato said. "The last three years we have seen a decline in enrollment."

Projections for this school year anticipated a decline of more than 300 students following two years of decreasing enrollment, Coeur d'Alene School District Executive Director of Community Relations Stefany Bales reported.

"Although it’s still too early to determine our final enrollment and attendance numbers for funding purposes, attendance counts for the first three days of school indicate that our anticipated enrollment decline may not happen," she said.

At the start of the 2023-24 school year, Coeur d'Alene's three-day average attendance declined by 550 students compared to the 2022-23 three-day average. Early indicators for the 2024-25 school year suggest the district might maintain last year's enrollment levels. Enrollment is down at the elementary and middle school levels, but high school numbers have slightly increased.

"We believe our current $25 million supplemental levy, combined with state funding generated from our attendance figures, will sufficiently support our current enrollment," Bales said. "The slight increase in attendance over the first three days of school is not substantial enough to necessitate an emergency levy and will not impose an undue burden on the district's resources."

Lakeland is up 100 students from where it ended the 2023-24 school year.

"We’re running our supplemental levy in November, so the last thing I want to do is run an emergency levy that the patrons don’t get to vote on and make everybody mad," Lakeland Superintendent Lisa Arnold said Friday.

The district's current enrollment is 4,635 students. Enrollment was 4,605 students at the beginning of last school year but closed with 4,533 students, Arnold said.