KSD examining replacement levy
Courtesy image This graph shows the history of the Kellogg School District’s last 10 supplemental levies. The district is currently discussing the amount for its upcoming replacement two-year supplemental levy, slated to be voted on as soon as March.
KELLOGG — The Kellogg School District has begun to construct its plans for its upcoming replacement supplemental levy.
Unlike the recent facilities maintenance bond, this is a replacement of the current levy that is already in place for those in the Kellogg School District.
At a recent Kellogg School Board workshop, trustees and attendees were presented with data that had been collected over recent weeks concerning how they should approach this situation.
The options were to increase funding and services, increase funding and keep current service levels, cut funding and services, dramatically cut funding and services, or to begin eliminating services altogether.
KSD superintendent Dr. Nancy Larsen has been making sure that she is watching this situation very closely to make sure that the school board has as much information and data accessible to them as possible.
“We presented the data to the board at our first workshop, quite a bit of data, and we didn’t have enough time for them to make a decision then,” Larsen said. “But after they were able to look at all of it, they decided to begin exploring the increased funding while retaining current services option.”
The increased funding to keep the current services model allows the district to make no changes to what they offer, but will give them the ability to retain all of their services with financial security if the district experiences any growth or the costs for those activities increases.
The current supplemental levy in place allotted $2,680,000 per year for the 2018/19 and 2019/20 school years and accounts for almost one third of its annual budget.
Currently, properties valued over $100,000 have been paying $676 per $100,000 of assessed value of property.
The Kellogg School District is one of 115 other school districts in Idaho that uses a supplemental levy to cover the holes in their funding.
If the district can’t replace its current levy with another one — as has been the ongoing situation for both the Kellogg and Wallace school districts — it will be forced to make cuts and the starting points for those cuts isn’t where most people expect it to be.
“Most of our money covers salaries,” Larsen said. “Schools are a people industry, so if we have to make cuts, it will mean cutting people. That would mean higher class sizes and fewer opportunities for kids.”
The next things that get looked at for potential cuts are school activities, sports, electives and all-day kindergarten.
Each board member will be reviewing the data they have independently, but will come together for the January board meeting where they will decide how much the proposed replacement levy will be.
That school board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 8 at Pinehurst Elementary School.