Education leaders share thoughts on road ahead
A new year means new opportunities, new challenges and new experiences ahead for students, staff and administrators in Kootenai County's largest school districts.
COEUR d'ALENE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent Shon Hocker is most looking forward to seeing continued growth of students and staff in the Coeur d'Alene School District in 2025.
"It’s always inspiring to watch our students achieve new milestones and our educators innovate to ensure learning is meaningful and engaging," Hocker said Dec. 19. "I’m also excited about further strengthening our partnerships with families and the broader community to support education in Coeur d'Alene."
Several exciting projects are planned for the year, Hocker said, including the completion of more than $3 million in deferred maintenance repairs and updates, thanks to the district receiving some funds from the state for facilities.
High priorities for the district include addressing the goal of every school obtaining High-Reliability Schools certification Level 1 by June.
"Six of our schools have already accomplished this milestone, and the remaining 10 are on track to complete this milestone by June," Hocker said. "We’re also focused on reviewing our safety protocols and expanding resources to support teachers in their crucial roles."
He said the district will also spend much of its time in January closely engaging with local legislators as they convene for the 2025 legislative session, in which education will be a focal point.
Hocker said one significant change could be the legislative efforts to support changing Idaho law to allow supplemental levies to run for four to six years rather than the current one-to-two-year option.
"We have all experienced voter fatigue," Hocker said. "This law change would be great to relieve that fatigue."
He said in 2025, the Coeur d'Alene School District will strive to be a top-performing district academically as well as socially.
"We want to ensure all students are equipped with the skills they need to thrive," he said. "We deeply appreciate the ongoing support of our community — it truly takes all of us working together to ensure the success of our schools. Here's to another great year in Coeur d'Alene!"
POST FALLS SCHOOL DISTRICT
It's a levy election year for the Post Falls School District, which will ask its constituents to approve a renewal of its existing $5,958,551-per-year levy amount.
"Since Idaho's funding formula is based on student attendance, the legislative body has ensured school districts across our state will have to continue to ask taxpayers for operational funds," Post Falls Superintendent Dena Naccarato said.
She said Post Falls attendance district-wide is around 92.5%.
"This means the district is losing 7.5% of operational funds because the only way we can get 100% of our state funding is to have every enrolled student attend school every single day, which is impossible," she said. "Passing this levy is fundamental for the students in our district. It ensures the continuation of our current programming, athletics and activities, school nurses, KTEC (Kootenai Technical Education Campus) and school safety measures. It also provides funding for competitive wages for all district staff."
Naccarato said Post Falls will hit the ground running in January as the district works to inform as many patrons as possible about Idaho public school funding and the levy renewal request. Post Falls has had a levy for the past 37 years, she said.
Big changes will come with the retirement of Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Programs Trina Caudle and Post Falls High School Principal Chris Sensel. Post Falls will be hiring to replace both positions.
"In the 2023-2024 school year, the Post Falls School District was No. 1 for large districts in the state for K-3 literacy in both proficiency and growth," Naccarato said. "We have amazing teachers and support staff working extremely hard every day to ensure our students are achieving at their highest levels."
Naccarato