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Why this gigantic levy if …

Enrollment decline: enrollment has been steadily declining since 1999, per the Idaho Department of Education data. LPOSD doesn’t publish that record on its website or talk about it:

In 1999, enrollment was 4,147; in 2015, 3,619, which is 528 fewer students. In 2016, the projected enrollment is 3,565, according to LPOSD’s consultants report.

Underutilized buildings: many school buildings are not at capacity, but the levy would rebuild and significantly remodel them anyway. The data below is from Teater Consulting, hired to conduct a facilities review last year:

SHS is at 85 percent capacity, but four new classrooms are planned after passing the levy. SMS is at 78 percent and planned for a tear-down and complete rebuild. Clark Fork High School is at 20 percent. Clark Fork Jr. High is at 84 percent. Washington Elementary is at 96 percent, projected to decline to 92 percent in 2020, but a complete rebuild is planned. Hope Elementary is at 67 percent. Sagle and Southside elementaries are at 81 percent and 83 percent, respectively, and Superintendent Shawn. Woodward at one time even floated the idea of combining the two because enrollment is decreasing so rapidly at one school. Lake Pend Oreille Alternative High School, a 109-year old building, is at 123 percent, rated as one of two of the most “unsatisifactory” buildings by Teater Consulting, but it is not on the levy’s construction plan. It is being delayed for “Phase 2”of the levy, slated to start after this one expires (or perhaps before).

Distortion: LPOSD insists on referring to its current and projected enrollment as “flat,” which contradicts consultants’ opinions and Idaho Department of Education records.

Bottomline: a school district with a declining student enrollment trajectory for the past 16 years and buildings not utilized to capacity wants to tear down and rebuild three buildings, add on to its under-utilized high schools, create five new athletic fields, and make modifications to many others.

Teacher friends I’m acquainted with have shared the fact that many teachers and working class families will find the levy’s six-year tax commitment extremely difficult. Not so for those making six-figure incomes plus $10,000-plus bonuses, such as Supt. Woodward.

CHRISTY MILLER

Sagle