Idaho Falls School District superintendent explains why budget cuts are needed

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Budget cuts are ahead this coming school year for the Idaho Falls School District 91.

The district administration said they are on a hiring freeze, but no positions will be cut. Local News 8 was able to talk to District 91's superintendent Monday. 

Superintendent Karla LaOrange says the school board assigned her and the business manager to look over the district's budget. What they found created concerns. LaOrange says the budget shows the school district was spending more money than it is getting from the state.

She says the supplemental levy has helped close the gap, but it's not sustainable. 

“We will need to address that in order to move forward and be sound fiscally and continue to provide that great education to our students,” LaOrange said. "She said she inherited the problem when she became the new superintendent.

When asked where the shortfall happened and why, LaOrange responded it was because of funding changes. 

"You know, like any other district, the majority of our budget, the majority of our revenues and our budget go towards teachers and staff members."

Much of the shortfall is due to state funding being switched from enrollment to attendance, LaOrange said.

“We are funded based on the number of students who are attending school. So all districts are facing some reductions. So this is not unique to just our district,” she said. 

The district has used savings from several funds in past years, including COVID-19 dollars.

They are proposing an amended budget, that reflects more of what is being sent is being proposed. It will use more savings, and no positions will be cut.

“No one is going to lose their position and we will continue to invest in our teachers and that will be a high priority as we work through this process with input from everyone,” LaOrange said.  

But moving forward changes need to be made. It is estimated at least $4 million will need to be cut for the 2024-25 school year to balance the budget.

“We'll do everything that we can to make sure that our teachers have the tools that they need and that we have the teachers that we need to serve our students,” LaOrange said.

The school board is meeting on Jan. 23 to look at passing the amended budget. 

District 91 says other school districts have found themselves in similar situations because of the change in funding from enrollment to attendance. 

The superintendent also told us they will soon begin looking at next year's budget to try and identify where cuts can be made. Teachers and parents will be able to review those potential cutbacks. 

Local News 8 will work with the school district to share that information with you as soon as it is available. 

Questions about the District's shortfall are circulating. The Idaho Falls Education Association says the financials it has seen do not match up. 

The IFEA says the district's total contribution to teacher salaries for the current school year is $3.2 million, which is 17.5% less than last year. With the lower budget and more dollars from the governor last year, the association said this was unexpected. 

"Last spring when our negotiations team met with the district, we were presented with one set of numbers we agreed upon," IFEA member Jake Snarr said. "We thought the salary schedule to the district would go down. Another budget was presented in June, we had an audit with the district that they do every year. A revised budget was presented, the results of the audit came back, and now there's a newest addition, but everything we have seen, the numbers don't add up, they are not matching."

The association says it wants to collaborate with the district to find answers and work to move forward while protecting teacher salaries.