TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The Twin Falls School District is asking voters to renew a supplemental levy that funds school security, staff, and extracurricular activities.
Supplemental levies must be renewed every two years, or they expire. This fall, voters will decide whether to renew a $7.2 million supplemental levy — the same amount as two years ago — with funds going to the same purposes as before.
Superintendent Brady Dickinson said the district is deliberate about what it requests from the community.
"We try to be really cautious in terms of how much we ask our community for, and so we really dig in and look at what exactly we need for the supplemental items," Dickinson said.
The levy funds armed security stationed at every school in the district. It also pays for paraprofessionals who assist in classrooms and help keep class sizes down.
Oregon Trail Elementary Principal Tana Schroeder said the additional staff members are essential to her school's operations. I visited Oregon Trail Elementary on Thursday for the first day of classes.
"We could not do this without all of our support staff. Yes, obviously we need our classroom teachers, but without our paraprofessionals without our custodians without our security without our school mentors, it really would be so so challenging," Schroeder said.
Supplemental funds also help cover transportation expenses for extracurricular activities, which means the district does not charge fees to students who participate in athletics, communications, or performing arts.
The Twin Falls School District first ran a supplemental levy in 2012. Voters have approved a renewal every time it has appeared on the ballot.
Dickinson said the levy is critical to what the district can offer students.
"It really does provide necessary support within our school and it provides our kids with more opportunities for just so many programs. That's the one thing that the public schools can offer just access to so many different programs and activities," Dickinson said.
Without the levy, Dickinson warned cuts would be unavoidable.
"These are things that without those funds, we would have to make these reductions," Dickinson said.
Voters will decide on the Twin Falls School District's supplemental levy renewal in the November election.
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