TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Twin Falls School District faced a sudden $1.5 million budget gap when federal funding was frozen just days before it was scheduled to be paid on July 1.
"The timing couldn't be worse," Twin Falls School District Superintendent Brady Dickinson said.
"You know it's like the day before you're getting paid, you find out you're gonna be short on your paycheck, and you have all these bills that you have to pay," Dickinson said.
Hear how TFSD made big changes on short notice after some K-12 Federal grants were frozen
Summer is a critical time for school districts as they close out the previous year's budget and finalize the upcoming year's financial plans. It's also when staffing decisions are made and contracts are signed.
"If we would've been told back in March or April that these funds were gonna be withheld, it gives us time to plan. But you know, when those funds are supposed to be released on July one and we find out three days before that they're gonna be frozen. It put us in a tough spot," Dickinson said.
In a statement released on Monday, Idaho State Department of Education Superintendent Debbie Critchfield said, "We're hopeful we will know the timeline for distribution sooner rather than later as decisions are being made for the coming school year. In the meantime, we've encouraged local districts and charters to review any carryover funding that may help support the programs in question ..."
The Twin Falls School District operates on a lean budget, making it difficult to absorb such a significant funding loss.
"The hard part is that we run a really lean budget in the district, and so we can't just absorb that by cutting out a few pencil orders, you know? You're talking about staff," Dickinson said.
While some staff positions were shifted, the programs most affected include those serving migrant students, multilingual learners, and teacher training.
"It's not just revenue. It's not profit that's impacted - services for kids that are being reduced," Dickinson said.
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