North Idaho school districts rely heavily on local taxpayers to make ends meet — more so than districts in other corners of the state. 

In Moscow, for example, supplemental levy dollars make up 39% of the school district’s general fund budget. In similarly-sized districts like Emmett and Shelley, levy dollars represent a much smaller slice of the pie at less than 5% of their general fund budget. 

But Moscow is in good company. Statewide, 19 of the 20 districts with the greatest levy reliance are in North Idaho. None are in the Treasure Valley area. 

Competition with Washington’s higher salaries, cost of living, and increased travel are some of the key factors, said Quinn Perry, policy and government affairs director for the Idaho School Boards Association. 

The number one reason is Idaho’s neighbor to the West: Washington. 

Commuting across the state line for a hefty rase isn’t a huge lift for many North Idaho residents, “so they’re competing with the job market in Washington,” Perry said.

Washington has higher per-pupil funding than Idaho, so they pay their teachers and staff more.

That impacts large districts like Post Falls or Coeur d’Alene as well as smaller ones like Potlatch and West Bonner, who have to raise local property taxes to offer competitive salaries. 

Another contributing factor is that teacher salaries just don’t go as far in Northern Idaho incomparison to other parts fo the state, Perry said. 

 “It just costs more money to own homes, especially in these areas where there’s tourism or attractions, where your cost of living is much higher and so in order to attract and maintain and compete, not only with Washington but also in other districts,” Perry said. “It makes sense to me that districts are having to rely on levies.”

Nine miles from Moscow, teachers can make tens of thousands more per year

Superintendent Shawn Tiegs said Moscow’s high levy reliance is largely due to the pay differential in Washington. 

Even with some of the highest teacher pay in the state, Moscow loses educators to nearby Pullman, Wash. 

“It’s an easy commute,” Tiegs said. “There’s intense geographical pressure as far as teacher salaries.”

Starting teacher salary in Moscow is $41,500 compared to $55,318 in Pullman, just nine miles down the road. That difference grows with the pay scale. In Moscow, teacher pay tops out at $82,647 compared to $104,265 in Pullman. 

“You can make all sorts of judgements about what’s good or not good but that’s the reality that we’re facing,” Tiegs said.

Most of the district’s budget goes to staff pay and benefits, Tiegs said. But Moscow is in the unique position of not having to go to voters to renew its levy every year or two. Moscow voters approved an indefinite levy in 1992 and have since approved multiple increases.

Home to the University of Idaho, Tiegs said he’s not surprised residents are willing to financially support public education. Lewiston, home to Lewis Clark State College, is just behind Moscow with 37.8% of its general fund budget made up of levy dollars. 

“There is no doubt in my mind that people in Moscow value high quality education and want what’s best for their kids and will do things to make that happen,” Tiegs said. 

Potlatch and Coeur d’Alene school leaders use levies to keep teachers in Idaho — with mixed success

Up the road in Potlatch, a district that serves 460 students, school leaders compete with the nearby Washington towns of Palouse and Garfield.

The district’s levy makes up 25.4% of its general fund budget, largely going to staff pay.

“In Potlatch, we’re trying to provide learning opportunities to students through CTE programs and while we get salary based apportionment from the state, for us to really be able to offer the electives that we need, we depend on that levy,” Superintendent Janet Avery said.

Shon Hocker is superintendent of Coeur d’Alene Public Schools where levy dollars make up 19.6% of the district’s general fund budget. 

Hocker agreed that the proximity to Washington drives Northern Idaho schools to rely more heavily on levies. About 40% of Coeur d’Alene’s supplemental levy dollars go to employee salaries and benefits. 

“That’s to create as much of a livable wage as we can in our area,” he said. 

Teachers can often make upwards of $20,000 more a year by driving the 20 to 30 minutes to Washington, he said.

“We would like to keep our staff,” Hocker said.  “I think our staff knows that we likely are not going to be able to match the salaries of Washington anytime soon but we can always strive to do the best that we can.” 

Hocker said that in Coeur d’Alene especially, the cost of living has skyrocketed. 

“Obviously teacher turnover is something we monitor, very closely. We are fortunate that we have a fair amount of veteran teachers,” Hocker said. “We also have a fair amount of newer teachers. The issue is the number of teachers in the middle.”

The district can recruit young teachers, he said, but once they get married and want to settle down, those educators find that even with two incomes they can’t purchase a home in Coeur d’Alene. 

That often leads teachers to leave the district for better pay. That turnover impacts not just students, but the whole school community. 

“Teaching is an art and a science,” Hocker said. “Both of those get better with experience.” 

More traveling contributes to need for local dollars

Traveling to sporting events and statewide competitions is more expensive for North Idaho schools, Tiegs said, even with support from the Idaho High School Activities Association.

To get to a recent golf tournament in Idaho Falls, Moscow students drove up to Coeur d’Alene then over to Butte, Mont., then down Interstate 15. 

“It’s the geography that you have,” he said. 

In Boundary County, bus drivers can travel up to 700 miles per day.

In Potlatch, the district’s 450 students are scattered across 385 square miles often up dirt or poorly maintained roads. The mileage cost and wear and tear add up, Avery said. 

Traveling to conference games, like to Kooskia, takes two and a half hours. 

It’s not just the miles driven but the lack of other services, said Avery. 

“That can contribute to the high cost of maintenance,” she said. “Sometimes we have to get contractors to come in and because we’re in remote or rural areas that cost can be more expensive because of travel.”

Everything just costs a little bit more, Avery said, and it all adds up. 

“I do think too the cost of utilities, the cost of just running our school districts, the cost of living I believe is a little higher,” Avery said. 

Levies are “fundamental” for North Idaho schools

Putting a levy in front of voters every two years is frustrating not only for the district but for voters as well, Hocker said. It costs money to run a levy, including paying an attorney to write the ballot language, educating voters, and sometimes the ability to save money when brokering contracts for the district, Hocker said. 

“There’s just a lot of levy fatigue,” he said. 

“I don’t know that the legislature understands that it may cost more to educate a student in Northern Idaho versus Southern Idaho.” — Janet Avery, Potlach School District superintendent. 

Hocker lobbied legislators earlier this month to extend the levy terms to something between two years and a permanent levy. He suggested six years as a good starting point. 

“Forever seems like a dang long time to everybody but I think everybody recognizes that two years is way too fast,” Hocker said. 

Coeur d’Alene ran an indefinite levy in March of 2023 alongside a plant levy, both failed. Their two-year supplemental levy passed two months later and again last month. Despite the passage, the district had to close an elementary school and make budget cuts in recent years. 

“They really are a fundamental levy,” Hocker said.

The combination of levy fatigue and how essential the funds are to North Idaho districts is frustrating, school leaders said.

“I don’t know that the Legislature understands that it may cost more to educate a student in Northern Idaho versus Southern Idaho,” Avery said.

Perry, from ISBA, said school leaders are pushing for legislators to recognize that supplemental levies are essential. 

Trustees voted earlier this month on a slate of issues to press the Legislature on in the upcoming session.

“Nobody loves to live and die by a two-year election,” Perry said.”It is completely disastrous for a district to re-evaluate a budget when their community doesn’t support a levy.”