Post Falls Schools District levy passes with 52.5% of the vote second time around

Finally, the Post Falls School District can exhale.

The only major district in the Inland Northwest that failed to pass a levy last winter, Post Falls won approval in its second attempt on Tuesday night.

A comprehensive get-out-the-vote effort was successful, as turnout more than doubled from the March 9 election that saw the supplementary levy fail by only 33 votes.

This time, the two-year, $9.9 million levy passed with 52.5% approval. The levy will collect the same amount as the one expiring this year.

“I’m obviously elated,” said Michelle Lippert, a member of the Post Falls board of trustees for more than 20 years.

“That loss in March was stunning … this doesn’t happen to us,” Lippert said.

However, Lippert said she was concerned by the low passage rate, which came despite district efforts to spread the word about the election and emphasize its importance.

“Our supplemental levy represents 7.5% of our operating budget. The levy is fundamental, not supplemental,” Superintendent Dena Naccarato said late last month.

The tax pays for technology, nurses, school resource officers, athletics and other expenses.

The need in Post Falls has been made even greater by reductions in state funding during the pandemic.

Opposition to the levy, some of it from the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, has focused on federal assistance the district received as part of the coronavirus relief packages, as well as concern about the subject matter being taught in schools.

Lippert blamed the closeness of the election partly on “misinformation about the value of public education and how they spend their money.”

“However, we are very transparent – it’s all right there on our website,” Lippert said.