EMMETT, Idaho — This upcoming school year, the Emmett school district hopes to offer new education options but now they have to balance that with the latest federal cuts to the Department of Education. I’m your Emmett neighborhood reporter, Alexander Huddleston, speaking with the superintendent, who says they are already working on a plan of action.
See what the Emmett School District plans to do to combat possible budget cuts.
The Emmett school district was looking forward to receiving 406 thousand dollars in their budget for the upcoming school year. Cuts to the Department of Education have put the check on ice.
"The money is still there. We just don't know when we will get it or if we get it," shrugged Superintendent Craig Woods.
Woods explained that without the funding, they are working to make some changes.
The superintendent continued, "It's not cutting anyone. Maybe you have a title one teacher here and moving them to the registrar because we have an open vacancy there, which is funded by a different fund that we have allocated. So right now we are not looking for any reductions."
The superintendent says they can handle a slight delay in funding, but any longer, and programs might be facing the chopping block.
"Our preschool program, and what we offer for 36 students, is a no-charge per semester. We have enough funding to get through the first semester. Pulling these funds will affect some of our low-income students. We are trying to minimize that so the support will still be there, it will just be funded in a different way," said Woods.
All of this is going on at the same time the district is launching two new options for education online through the Virtual Prep Academy of Idaho, as well as in person at True North Prep.
True North principal Stephan Joyner explained that it is a place where students who don't feel seen at other secondary schools can come.
Joyner nodded, saying, "Sometimes you're just a number in larger schools, and that is what students like about our school. They get to know the staff and hopefully there is an adult here who cares and can mentor the student."
This has already drawn several students and parents to make the switch.
"The teachers are very helpful. You can easily talk to them," said Ayden Barrett, a returning junior.
Barrett's mother, Michelle, said she heard about the school when her older son first made the move over. "Freshman year, he was struggling, and he switched to go to school here, and right off the bat, he did great."
The district hopes the funds will be cleared before the second semester starts.
