School districts declare financial emergencies

At least a dozen Idaho school districts have declared financial emergencies under a new state law, and more are considering the move as they face their first-ever cut in state funding for schools next year. “There’s no money, so what can you do?” asked Ryan Kerby, superintendent of the New Plymouth School District in southwestern Idaho. In Bonner County, West Bonner Schools Superintendent Mike McGuire said he’s already cut a quarter-million dollars from next year’s budget, and it still hasn’t made up the shortfall. “We aren’t going to have a high school assistant principal next year in a high school of 400-plus students - that wasn’t a luxury,” he said. “We’ve made, I think, some pretty serious reductions throughout the district. We just don’t have anyplace else to look.”

The new financial emergency law lets a school district reopen teacher contracts, to negotiate possible adjustments in pay, hours or contract length. It allows temporary suspension of a state law that requires teachers to be paid at least what they were the previous year. West Bonner and Boundary County school districts already have made the declarations; Coeur d’Alene and Rathdrum schools are seriously considering it. Tom Taggart, business manager for the Lakeland School District in Rathdrum, said, “There’s a lot of potential risks with moving ahead with it, but it’s one of the few tools we have.” You can read my full story here in today’s Spokesman-Review.