More than a hundred Lakeland community members gathered Wednesday, for the second time since a supplemental levy failure earlier this month. They begged trustees to consider quickly voting to run another, smaller levy in May. 

Their pleas came after trustees put together a special meeting on Nov. 7 but did not take public comment, instead opting to discuss their options going forward. 

The two-year, $19 million supplemental levy failed with 48% support. The funds largely would have gone to staff salaries and benefits with about $3 million earmarked for extracurriculars and athletics. The remainder would have gone toward transportation, safety and security needs and curriculum. 

Only two other, much smaller, supplemental levies failed statewide — in the West Bonner and Boundary County districts, both located north of Lakeland. Last year, Lakeland had just over 4,500 students, making it the fourth-largest district in North Idaho.

Lakeland’s supplemental levy failed in March 2023 but passed in May of that year. Prior to the 2023 levy failure, voters approved levies for more than 15 years. 

The school district encompasses the city of Rathdrum, along with smaller surrounding towns and unincorporated areas.

On Wednesday evening, the district’s five trustees sat in a row facing approximately 200 community members seated on the Lakeland High School bleachers. Just over a dozen speakers addressed the board during public comment. 

The vast majority supported rerunning the levy in some form with many suggesting reducing the ask amount. Attendees who did not speak signaled their support for rerunning the levy with loud applause.

Attendees criticized trustees for their lack of transparency and unrealistic views of what programs and staff would be cut without levy dollars.  

Board wants to carefully consider options

Board Chair Michelle Thompson opened the special meeting last week by acknowledging the fear surrounding the impacts of the levy failure but argued the community could come together to manage the problem.

She was skeptical about running another levy. 

“I don’t know on what ground we could stand for asking to run the levy again when 10,485 taxpayers have said no,” Thompson said. 

With just 244 more no votes than yes votes, Thompson brought up the idea of asking for a recount but no other board members supported the idea. 

Trustee Ramona Grissom said the trustees need more information on where they could cut back and brought up the idea of dealing with larger class sizes. 

“I am not for closing schools and I am not for getting rid of teachers,” Grissom said.”I just find that a ludicrous option. That should be the last place we look.”

She floated the idea of reducing bus routes and having all grades ride the bus together. 

Trustee David Quimby agreed that he did not want to cut teachers or schools and extended that mindset to athletics as well. 

“I will not try to cut athletics ever, they are too important to this district,” Quimby said. “This district runs on athletics, I don’t care what anyone says.”

He did acknowledge that sports may have to go to a pay-to-play model to be feasible without the levy. He also floated the idea of no longer buying Chromebooks and having teachers write their own curriculum as cost-saving measures. 

Trustee Bob Jones agreed that closing schools and cutting teachers is a last resort. He too wanted more information on where Lakeland could cut back and still maintain minimum required services.

Jones acknowledged, however, that 85% of the district’s general fund goes to staff wages and benefits the levy makes up about 25% of the budget. 

“It’s pretty hard to cut almost 25% of the general fund budget without cutting into wages and benefits, which goes to personnel,” Jones said. 

Both Jones and Thompson expressed the desire to take time in their decisions on budget cuts or rerunning the levy. Thompson mentioned waiting for information from the 2025 legislative session that could impact budgets. 

Community pushes for re-run

The majority of speakers during public comment Wednesday said they were in favor of rerunning the levy in May but for a lower dollar amount. 

Shannon Rider and her husband both work in the district and have children in Lakeland schools. 

“I don’t want to go anywhere else but my No. 1 responsibility is to ensure that my children have access to a school district where they can participate in sports, play instruments, take courses from exemplary teachers and have access to cutting edge materials and curriculum,” Rider said. “Without the levy, we can’t promise families that we will be able to provide their children with these opportunities.”

She argued the district has always been conservative with its money, and that there aren’t millions of dollars hiding somewhere in the budget to be cut. Rider said she heard the school board did not want to threaten the community with what they’d lose in order to get them to vote for the levy, a move she argued was detrimental.

“I don’t believe that voters voted no because they don’t support education,” Rider said. “I believe that people voted no because they didn’t understand what was on the table.”

The extracurricular activities and low class sizes provided by the levy are huge contributors to students’ success and wellbeing, she said. 

“This funding quite literally changes student lives,” said Rider, tearing up. “In my career, I think of many students who would not be where they are today without the opportunities provided to them through levy supported programs and sports.” 

The crowd applauded loudly as Rider finished speaking. 

Seth Bullock, a Lakeland alumni who now has children in the district, said he’s the perfect example of a student whose life was changed by his teachers. He fears that teachers will flee the district just from the uncertainty of the levy situation.

“Our teachers are the backbone of our community,” he said. “And you will easily lose them retention-wise if they don’t have certainty.” 

A slew of district staff and teachers spoke Wednesday.

Jessica Dehnert, transportation director, argued that cutting the bus routes wouldn’t save very much money. 

Booster Club President Tina Hillman expressed frustration that gate fees at sports games have been kept low in comparison to area schools. She argued it was a savings passed on to visitors, not the Lakeland community. She also complained that it has been difficult to give the district donations. 

“When we’re trying to give you money, it seems like trouble,” Hillman said.

Jason Bradbury, a longtime teacher and current union representative in the district, said union members would like to see a new levy proposal on the May ballot.  

“Our group wishes that you would strongly reconsider running the levy but at a lesser amount,” he said.

He thanked the board for their kind words supporting teachers at the special meeting but said that if they don’t re-run the levy losing staff is inevitable. 

“We would ask and I would ask that if that’s going to be the case waiting until March, April or May would be too late,” Bradbury said. “We’re going to lose good staff just in fear of losing their jobs and that’s very sad. And there’s only so many openings in our nearby schools.” 

Bradbury asked for a solid plan for cuts by February to allow for enough time for teachers and families to plan, especially if they’re not going to re-run the levy.

Idaho Education News data analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report.