TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The school board cleared the district to proceed with a reduction-in-force at its April meeting on Monday.
"Unfortunately, when you’re a district that is experiencing a decline in enrollment, there are times when hard decisions have to be made," Superintendent Brady Dickinson said.
Dickinson said dropping enrollment is forcing the district to adapt.
WATCH: Hear how the district will make the reductions
"Over the last few years, we’ve been reducing positions in the district due to loss of enrollment, and this year got a little bit more complicated because we have a new charter school that's opening in town," Dickinson said.
The new Elevate Academy, a career-technical charter school, will open in 2026 for grades 6 through 12. It will ultimately be able to accommodate more than 400 students, which has the school district anticipating the downward enrollment trend to continue.
"When we make cuts, we always start with attrition. People are leaving the district, and in years prior, it’s been a little easier because it’s been at the elementary level," Dickinson said.
In 2025, the district made similar decisions, eliminating around 20 positions without laying off staff. Dickinson said it is a little tougher this year, as most of the position cuts will come from secondary schools.
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"At the secondary is more complicated because if I’m certified to teach math, I can’t move over and teach social studies," Dickinson said. "So it is harder to do attrition that way because you might need to make reductions within certain departments that you don’t have people actually leaving those departments."
The district hopes to have decisions made by May 1.
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