This Idaho school district’s levy failed. Here are the cuts it’s making 

Grappling with a funding shortage after a failed levy, the Kuna School District will cut the positions of about 20 teachers and staff members — one of several budget cuts district administrators are planning for the next year.

The $2.5 million budget cuts that the school board approved Tuesday for the 2024-2025 school year follows a May election when voters rejected a $5.3 million per year supplemental levy that would have provided funding for salaries, curricula and maintenance.

Kuna is one of several districts across the state that are wrestling with budget cuts after failed levies and other drops in funding.

“We have been preparing for this, but it doesn’t matter,” Kuna’s Chief Financial Officer Elimira Feather said. “You can prepare for it way ahead of time, but it really hurts when it happens.”

District to close annex building, make staff cuts

Beginning next year, the district plans to temporarily close an annex at Hubbard Elementary School and move the students in that building — special education pre-K and kindergarten — to the main building.

The community Head Start program, which has a center on Hubbard’s campus, will be displaced and Hubbard will be full, Feather said during the meeting.

The staff positions that will be cut include five district office positions, five classroom teaching positions and about 10 non-classroom school-based certified and administrative positions. The district will also cut about $75,000 in curriculum spending and eliminate student device replacements, which administrators said will save about $320,000. The district has provided a Chromebook for every middle and high school student in recent years.

The district had savings in its fund balance, which gave it more leeway to be able to spread out the budget cuts over two years, if they don’t pass another supplemental levy. But for the 2025-2026 school year, the district could have to cut more than $3 million more from its budget.

The board in the future could consider other options to reduce its spending, such as moving to a four-day week — a shift dozens of districts across the state have made to save money and attract teachers. It could also look at additional position cuts or reorganizing its middle school structure.

Treasure Valley districts struggle with passing levies

During the May primary election, the supplemental levies in Kuna and Caldwell both failed to reach the simple majority needed to pass. Both districts had relied on the levies for routine operations. Within the Treasure Valley, West Ada and Wilder school districts were able to narrowly pass their levies.

Kuna can’t re-run its supplemental levy until November — one of only two dates left that school districts can run bonds and levies after the Legislature eliminated the March and August options over the past few years.

Ahead of the budget discussion during public comment, teachers and parents urged the board to consider the impacts of their decisions on students and teachers. They said the school board should focus on student success, and that children should be at the forefront of their decisions.

“It’s hard to do this,” board chair Kim Nixon said during the meeting. “And I’m hoping that if we go for another levy, we will have more community members help us, so that we don’t have to do these cuts again.”

This story was originally published June 12, 2024 at 10:59 AM.

Becca Savransky

Idaho Statesman

208-495-5661

Becca Savransky covers education and equity issues for the Idaho Statesman. Becca graduated from Northwestern University and previously worked at the Seattlepi.com and The Hill. Support my work with a digital subscription