The Lakeland School District board on Dec. 18 directed the district CFO to begin the process with the State Board of Education to seek a declaration of financial emergency after a proposed supplemental levy recently failed.

Board members said the declaration would allow the district to implement planned reductions while preserving the option to rescind the emergency if a future levy passes. The board discussed a draft set of reductions that district staff said would cover a $9,520,000 shortfall if the district must absorb the full amount.

The board did not adopt a final package or vote on a new levy at the meeting. Several trustees and staff discussed running a smaller supplemental levy instead of trying to restore the full $9.52 million in the short term. Trustee Robert F. Jones, in a written statement read into the record by Jason Bradbury (Lakeland Education Association president), urged the board to rerun a levy at roughly $7,500,000, saying that state tax relief would reduce the dollar impact on local taxpayers and that a smaller levy would give the district time to ‘‘partly grow our way out of it and or make necessary adjustments.’’

Board and staff discussion reviewed numerous line items and scenarios presented on a prioritized reductions spreadsheet prepared by district finance staff. The spreadsheet shows optional reductions and revenue strategies including: moving some items to a rerun levy (example: athletics and co-curricular support), cutting or not refilling certain vacant district positions, consolidating summer school programming, reducing district-office costs and subscriptions, and transportation-route changes to shorten routes and reduce driver hours. Specific figures discussed during the meeting included a $2,000,000 athletics/co-curricular package (which the district said could cover coaches, travel and uniforms), a $128,000 athletic-trainer line item tied to a contract with Specialty Hospital, an approximate $40,000 estimate to reduce air-conditioning operation at Twin Lakes Elementary, and bus-route reductions identified at roughly $40,000 by one trustee’s selection of routes to eliminate.

Staff and trustees repeatedly stressed limits on what the district can do unilaterally. Multiple speakers noted that an emergency declaration itself must be approved by the State Board of Education before the district can officially declare a financial emergency. The CFO and superintendent told the board that if the district reruns a levy and it passes, the emergency would be rescinded; if the levy fails again the emergency could remain in place while the district implements reductions.

Trustees and staff also discussed programmatic impacts and trade-offs. Items flagged as possible cuts included: reductions to district-office positions, unfilled vacancies (including some assistant or administrative roles), consolidation or online-only models for summer school (which staff said would reduce costs but could weaken credit recovery and instructional quality), reductions in some extracurricular or partnership funding (for example, a possible temporary pause on the district’s KTEC contribution was discussed as a large but undesirable cut), and changing transportation routing that could require fewer drivers but might necessitate additional buses if schedules change. Staff warned that some cuts—particularly category-1 certificated positions at the elementary level—would be difficult to absorb without affecting classroom staffing and could require special August meetings to finalize after enrollment is known.

The board asked staff to prepare more specific, community-facing materials. Trustees directed staff to make the spreadsheet selections visible to the public, and to develop clearer ballot language and line-item descriptions if the board decides to rerun a levy. Staff agreed to provide a community survey or feedback mechanism that would let voters indicate which items they would accept on a smaller levy.

Formal actions at the meeting were limited. The board approved the meeting agenda by voice vote and later voted by roll call to enter executive session under the statutory citation referenced at the meeting (Idaho Code 74-2061(b) as stated in the record). After returning from executive session the board reported “no post-executive-session action at this time” and gave direction to the CFO to begin the State Board process to seek an emergency declaration.

Board members asked staff to return in January with a refined proposal and proposed ballot language so the board could take formal action on whether to place a supplemental levy before the county(s). Several trustees expressed a desire to avoid wholesale program dismantling and to protect classroom teachers where possible; trustees discussed relying on attrition (retirements/resignations) and targeted administrative reductions as ways to lower the general-fund gap while preserving instructional staff.

Trustee Robert F. Jones’ written statement, read into the record by Jason Bradbury, urged unity and recommended a $7,500,000 levy (noting state tax relief would offset a portion of the local tax burden) and said, in part, “There is at night only 1 logical option. We must rerun the levy.” The board did not vote on that recommendation at the meeting; trustees said any motion on a levy would be taken at a future meeting, likely in January.

The board will continue working with the superintendent and CFO to refine the reduction scenarios, prepare clearer ballot language and community materials, and finalize a proposed levy amount for a future public decision.