WBCSD trustees weigh options following levy failure

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PRIEST RIVER — After Tuesday’s levy failed, emotions ran high as school board trustees were left to discuss their options at a special Thursday meeting.

So far, no action has been taken — official board decisions will be withheld until next week’s meeting. But trustees expressed both a strong will to re-run it on the May ballot, and notable disappointment at its failure.

The levy, which accounts for 25% of the district’s budget, is necessary for many of the services including extracurriculars and special education.

Losing that funding would certainly lead to teacher cuts said superintendent Paul Anselmo.

That means that if the district permanently loses its funding, any program not mandated by the state, such as sports, would be cut. That would also mean losing students and funding, said trustee Drew McClain.

In terms of people, should the district fail to pass the levy a second time, the shortfall of $2.4 million would equate to the salaries of 36 certified staff or 60 classified staff, Anselmo said.

As of Wednesday morning, district officials had already fielded calls from anxious teachers about whether they would need to look for a new job.

“I had somebody ask me today if he sees a job opening somewhere else if he should apply, and I said yes,” McClain said. “I’m not going to lie.”

To make ends meet, the district would likely have to close three of its schools and max out capacity in others if a levy failed a second time. Students who currently bus 45 minutes one way to school could see a ride of over an hour.

Closing the schools, which are old and need more upkeep, could also cost tens, or even hundreds of thousands more later on from deferred maintenance, said Ken Eldore, director of facilities and capital improvements.

One high school student in the audience commented that she was baffled by the lack of support for the levy.

“It’s just insane that people were so against this from my community,” she said, “and just leave us scrambling.”

Several teachers and staff also expressed frustration, with one describing the district as “already so lean it’s dysfunctional.”

“Cooks are jumping in to help custodial staff, and vise versa,” he said.

One teacher commented on the Facebook livestream that having to rely on the levy was “an atrocious way to fund education,” and another commented that staff would need a decision soon so if they needed to apply for jobs they would have the chance.

“People think [we’ve] got money hidden somewhere,” McClain said. “We’re broke.”

At one point, Brower grew visibly emotional as she addressed the room, describing what she saw as “complacency” within the community.

“When people say it’s not about the kids, they’re wrong,” she said. “I can’t imagine raising my kids here and not providing them every opportunity … Why don’t people care? Why don’t they care enough to get off the couch and vote? I don’t know how to make people care.”

Educators’ frustrations with the levy’s failure were further illuminated by trustee Margaret Hall’s suggestion to consider a future lawsuit with the state — which, until 2006, provided schools steady funding through property taxes.

Hall, as well as trustees McClain and Brower, commented on the Legislature’s failure to provide adequate funding for schools.

Consistently chipping away at funding, Hall said, means the district will lose students and teachers. That could also have a negative impact on the community and economy as a whole, trustees noted.

“We’re having to scramble [and] grovel every two years,” she said.

While Anselmo believes there “needs to be a lawsuit” between school districts and the state, he asked trustees to focus on the levy for the moment.

“A prolonged lawsuit will not help us,” he said.

Veteran educators in the district, including Wilma Hahn and Susie Luckey, appealed to trustees and voters to run the levy a second time and work to make it pass.

Although the pandemic has been “devastating” to the community, Hahn said, she strongly believed in the teachers working for the district and the need to fund students’ education.

Luckey spoke of her community and alumni who have returned to care for it since graduating.

“We have been a community, a village [that] serves all children,” she said. “We have kids who have to have public school, they need it.”

She added that for some residents, school funding might be confusing without the whole picture. For instance, the district receives CARES funds, but the money is different from discretionary funds in how it’s allowed to be spent.

“[We need to] help people understand exactly what that means,” she said.

Many of the “no” votes were from people who don’t want any kind of public school, said trustee Troy Reinbold.

“I’ve had people tell me right to my face, they want the school district to go down,” he said. “They want Christian schools.”

Although that’s what some voters may want, McClain said, public schools are federally mandated. If the WBCSD failed, students would be transferred to the neighboring Lake Pend Oreille School District.

If that happened, it would also mean that voters’ costs would go up, as the WBCSD levy is lower than most in the area at a $1.47 per $1,000 of assessed property value — a rate that hasn’t increased in years.

“They’d have to run a new levy, and they’ll pass it because their voters are voting yes,” Brower said.

Anselmo also noted that he believed there was a significant misunderstanding among some members of the public about the work teachers are doing.

“Every person here has worked incredibly hard to make this [last year] work,” he said. “Not passing a levy feels like somebody sucker punched you right in the stomach. It literally just hurts.”

The trustees briefly discussed the potential to try and reduce the levy, but several reiterated that as tight as the budget already is, more cuts would be impossible.

“There is no fluff,” Brower said. “We’re not looking at cutting the levy, because that’s the money we need.”

Rachel Sun can reached at rsun@bonnercountydailybee.com and followed on Twitter @RachelDailyBee.