Q&A with Brian Joyce on Proposed Council Schools Levy

‍We put these questions regarding the proposed levy for Council Schools to Brian Joyce, Superintendent of the Council School District. His answers are below.

1. What is the dollar amount the levy is for? How many years? What will this cost property owners?

The levy is for $250,000 per year for two years. The cost to property owners is $50.52 per $100,000 of tax assessed property value.

2. What is the primary purpose of this proposed levy? What specific needs will this levy address that the current budget cannot?

The primary purpose of this levy is to pay salaries and benefits for aides in the elementary and secondary schools. Council School District has several things that the school district funds without additional money from the state. For example, Pre-K and full-day kindergarten are funded by the district with no additional funds from the state. We also have several students who require full-day one-on-one aides to support their needs with no additional funding. Additionally, aides provide one-to-one and group assistance services for students who need extra help on assignments in the regular classrooms.

3. If passed, will this levy fill the budget gap?

If passed, this levy will significantly reduce the strain on the budget. However, with the costs of everything going up, there is no guarantee that we will be able to not dip into our savings even with this levy.

4. Why is the district asking voters to approve this levy now?

CSD has passed a levy to pay for aides since 2014. The current levy of $130,000 per year expires this year, thus the need for a new levy.

5. What is your plan if voters deny the levy?

If this levy does not pass, we will be forced to reduce the number of aides in both schools and look to drop Pre-K and all day Kindergarten. However, even with cost-saving cuts, the district will still be on hook for the majority of the cost of this levy because the one-on-one aides are required by law. If we do not pass this levy, the district will have to take a significant dip into our savings to continue to provide services.

6. This levy is significantly more than previous levies. Can you explain why?

There are several reasons for the increased costs. Previous levies funded only part-time aides, which are significantly more cost effective than full-time aides. However, in recent years, the district has moved to hiring more full-time aides to increase longevity and to keep our best quality aides working with students all day long. This is in addition to the full-time aides that we are required to provide for our higher needs students.

The district also recently adopted a classified salary schedule which puts aides and other classified staff hourly wages at a competitive rate with local businesses. This was done in an effort to pay our employees livable wages and maintain consistency with our aides. Both of these options increase expenses for the district, but we have prioritized consistency and livable wages for our employees.

7. In the past the state has helped pay off large portions of the levy to reduce taxpayer payments on property taxes. Will the state help pay down this levy like in the recent past?

To the best of my knowledge, yes. However, nothing is assured.

8. According to idahoreportcard.org/, Council’s standardized test performance is not great. How does this levy help improve that?

In education, we use a tiered system to group students with academic needs. Tier 1 are the 80-85% of students who do not need additional service, they are able to handle the rigors of education. Tier 2 are the 5-10% of kids who need some additional support to help them be successful in the regular classroom. Tier 3 students are the highest needs students. Tier 3 students have individualized education plans and receive special education services. The levy funds aides to assist our Tier 2 and Tier 3 students who need the most additional support. This will support teachers focusing on Tier 1 students while supporting Tier 2 and 3 students which should bring test scores up.

9. Have you explored cost-cutting or alternative funding sources before proposing this levy?

We are exploring cost saving measures and alternative funding sources as much as possible. The vast majority of the school district’s budget is personnel. This levy is actually a reduction in aides from our current level this school year. There were no known alternatives at the time we had to apply for this levy. If additional funding options become available in the future, of course we will pursue those options.

10. How will success be measured if the levy is approved? Or how will the community know the levy is worth the expense to themselves, the taxpayers?

Success can be measured in a variety of ways, but I would suggest talking to teachers and staff. Talking to teachers who utilize aides in their classrooms will tell you they don’t know how they will be able to provide the same level of support without aides. As previously pointed out, test scores are low in the district in the past years. This is a major priority for the district in the coming years. Aides are going to be a key component in helping us make up the deficiency.

11. Why does the district need this money - what about state funds the district receives? Can the district stay within that budget?

Council School District, like most districts in Idaho, is overbudget on classified staff. Approximately 70-80% of school districts in Idaho run supplemental levies, the majority of those are to pay for salaries and benefits for staff. Comparatively, this levy is small compared to similar sized districts which are running much larger levies for the same reason.