The Coeur d’Alene school board has voted to enact a variety of spending cuts to balance the district’s budget for next year. The deficit is estimated at about $6 million.
Perhaps the most impactful cut will affect the students and staff of Borah Elementary School, which is now scheduled to become the district’s early learning center and a child care facility for district staff members. The projected savings is about $1 million. Board members approved the proposal unanimously, but not enthusiastically.
“If we are going to do this, close Borah and repurpose the building, I really would like to see our district office move and utilize that building," said board member Allie Anderton.
Anderton says turning Borah into the district’s central office would save money and allow the district to either sell or lease its current offices and raise some extra money. Superintendent Shon Hocker says he would investigate the idea, but thinks the building wouldn't fetch what school board members are looking for.
The board voted to keep the district operating on a five-day-a-week schedule next year despite the fact that a shift to a four-day week would save the district money.
Board member Lesli Bjerke says she’s been studying the benefits of four-day instruction and notes that more than 90 Idaho districts have adopted it.
“It concerns me that the more four-day districts, if we stay five, that some of our teachers will leave because they’d rather have that and we have gotten a ton of staff e-mails that seem to indicate that they have a strong desire for that," Bjerke said.
Bjerke and her colleagues asked administrators to begin exploring the possibility of adopting a four-day-a-week calendar in subsequent years.
The board also voted to enact a variety of personnel-related cuts to get the district closer to a balanced budget.
Hocker says with the major decisions for spending cuts not made, administrators will continue to tweak until the board is ready to adopt the new budget. They must do so by the end of June.
The board also decided to stick with the district’s current five-day-a-week calendar, even though more than 90 Idaho districts have moved to four-day-a-week instruction. Board member Lesli Bjerke says Coeur d’Alene should spend the next several months investigating whether it, too, should change to a shorter week.
The board also voted to enact a variety of personnel-related cuts to get the district closer to a balanced budget. It is scheduled to adopt the new budget by the end of June.
