With less than a month until Election Day, Lakeland School District Superintendent Lisa Arnold’s frequent presentations on the district’s $15 million, two-year levy focus on what's going right in Lakeland, instead of the unsettling realities of a failed levy.
An April 9 town hall at Athol Elementary was no exception. She talked about the district’s high graduation rate and how the lack of dropouts reduces crime. Those graduates go on to get high-paying jobs in the trades or on to higher education and often return to North Idaho to work, Arnold said.
Sports and extracurriculars help keep kids excited about school and teach valuable life lessons, she said. She emphasized how the small community school model in Lakeland is unique, providing students with a community that can be hard to find in larger schools and long bus rides. But more schools mean more staff, she said.
Arnold noted her strong connection to area faith leaders and how all 11 schools in the district proudly bear an “In God We Trust” sign. What Arnold doesn't dwell on is what's at stake: jobs, sports, school safety and a variety of academic programs.
On Wednesday, April 9, Arnold ended with her purpose for giving these talks. "We recognize that everyone's financial situation is different," Arnold said, understanding a "no" vote." We can all live with that, as long as we're voting with accurate information. I think there was a lot of misinformation that is circulating through social media and so my intention in coming out and meeting with people is just to answer questions.”
The problem: Most of the people at Arnold's presentation are on board, planning to vote yes. Athol’s library Wednesday was full of teachers and engaged parents and families. Those on the fence weren't there to listen.
The levy proposal:
Lakeland has had two levy failures in as many years. The district currently has a $9.5 million per year levy on the books that will expire in June. The proposed levy would be $7.5 million per year. The programs funded by the levy are current programs that would be maintained if the levy passes. Even if the levy passes, the district will lose 25 staff members, among other cuts. Idaho Ed News found that North Idaho districts rely on levies more than the rest of the state.
- Co-Curricular Activities and Athletics: $ 2 million
- 25 teaching positions: $2 million
- Safety & Security Program: $827,798
- 8 Elementary Specialists who teach Music, Physical Education, and STEAM courses: $613,730
- Advanced Learning Program in Elementary: $546,797
- Transportation: $500,000
- 10 Library personnel: $434,106
- Access to the Kootenai Technical Education Campus: $348,000
- Two school nurses: $172,150
- Alternative Middle School Program: $80,230
The levy would cost taxpayers $82 per $100,000 of assessed home value before state property tax relief. The levy would cost an estimated $52 per $100,000 of assessed value after the property tax relief funds are applied.
Melissa Elgis is the Athol Elementary Parent Teacher Unit president and has two children at the school. She sat with other members of the PTU Wednesday. Elgis supports the levy and her children’s teachers and tries to talk to others about the levy.
At drop off and pick up, some parents are willing to chat but “some people, we can’t even bring it up with,” Elgis said. "I think there's a lot of misinformation about everything, about how it works."
Much of that misinformation and hesitancy, she believes, comes from recent out of state transplants who don’t realize that Idaho has the lowest funding per pupil in the country.
Realtors seek to educate transplants on levy
Eric Boardman and Seth Horst, local realtors who cater to out of state buyers with their YouTube channel, North Idaho Experience, made a video on the topic last week.
Boardman, who recently left the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, has two children in Lakeland schools and lives in the Hauser area. Horst said he’s normally a bit of a libertarian and if he sees something that’s going to increase his taxes, he almost always votes no.
But after speaking to Boardman, he’s reconsidering. Boardman focused on the tremendous growth in North Idaho and Rathdrum, specifically. Many of those transplants are moving because they are conservative and share Idaho’s values, Boardman said.
In an interview, he added that many of his clients with children want to move to Lakeland because of its highly rated school district. Those same transplants often don’t realize that Idaho schools also reflect their values, Boardman said.
In states like Washington and California, he argued, levies are abused and schools are teaching ideologies that aren’t present in Idaho schools.
"If you're moving somewhere where you want those values, I do think it's important to keep yourself informed," he said.
One of the largest groups of people moving into North Idaho are retirees, Boardman noted, who might feel that since they don’t have kids in school the levy doesn’t benefit them. Boardman disagreed.
Things like sports and clubs along with the Kootenai Technical Education Campus (KTEC) keep kids in school and out of trouble. Keeping kids in school, he said, reduces crime, vandalism and homelessness. Lakeland has done a bad job advertising for the levy, he said.
Most people don’t know the levy is a replacement of a previous levy, so it’s not a new tax, he said.
While Boardman said he’s not a fan of big government or high taxes, "on this one you really got to start breaking down the dollars and places it's going, this is just to keep them operating.”
He tells his clients moving from out of state to really research the community they’re moving to and to get involved. "Your house is where you're going to lay your head at night,” he said. “Your community is where you live.”
Families, teachers remain concerned
The levy campaign may be in full swing but so is an air of stress among families and teachers. Lakeland families are applying to transfer to the nearby Coeur d’Alene School District.
This year, 33 elementary students applied to transfer compared to nine the year prior. At the middle school level, 15 students want to transfer compared to four the year prior and 30 high schoolers want to move to CDA compared to six last year.
Teachers and staff are starting to resign, too, with one teacher, Alison Knoll, writing an open letter to the trustees, criticizing their distrust for teachers and administrators.
"There is such a toxic environment of distrust," Knoll said. "Every decision we make is questioned and scrutinized."
She cited increasingly restrictive policies that require approval for everything from fundraisers to classroom materials and trustee comments that teachers should feel lucky to have a job, according to the Coeur d’Alene Press.
Chair Michelle Thompson and Vice Chair Ramona Grissom voted against the $15 million two-year levy proposal. Instead, Grissom proposed an approximately $6 million alternative that would have paid for sports and extracurriculars and KTEC but not much else.
The pair frequently tussle with school administrators during board meetings. The trustees were also criticized that their lack of support and outreach for the November levy led, in part, to its failure. So far, trustees have attended several levy town halls and taken questions ahead of the May levy vote.
This story was originally published by Idaho Ed News.