KUNA, Idaho — Voters in Kuna will see a $3.6 million supplemental school levy on the ballot in November. We spoke with Kuna parents about the levy and how they say it may impact Kuna kids if it fails again.
- If the levy passes, Kuna schools can keep 37 teachers and add 6 more. If it fails, those 37 teachers will be cut from classrooms.
- The majority of the $3.6 million levy will go towards teachers, with $250,000 of those funds going towards student technology and textbooks.
- The proposed levy will cost the taxpayer $65.48 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value.
- You can find more information about the Kuna School District supplemental levy here.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
"How does a district survive losing 60 staff over two years? It just doesn't even make sense to me," says Heather Conger, who has 3 kids in Kuna schools with one more starting kindergarten next year.
She worries another failed levy would lead to losing more teachers — negatively impacting her kids.
"Especially because the levy will be funding teachers, specifically kindergarten teachers... it's very valuable to me that we can have those [positions] funded so we can have smaller class sizes and extend the full-day kindergarten," says Conger.
If the $3.6 million supplemental levy passes, most of the money will go to maintaining 37 teaching positions and adding 6 more to help reduce class sizes.
If the levy fails, those 37 teaching positions would be cut— students would see bigger class sizes, high schoolers would switch from block schedules to standard full-day schedules and kindergarten would be cut down to half-time.
"People might know, Idaho is notorious for its school funding. But I find that Kuna School District does phenomenal with what they're given. They really try their best to accommodate all of our kids," says Conger.
"My daughter has special needs and is in a special program that's only offered at Crimson Point within the district," says Mary Stewart, a Kuna parent.
She says her second-grade daughter needs a little extra support from her teachers — something that would be harder with more students in the classroom.
"The more kiddos you put [in a class], especially at this age group and especially more kiddos with special needs, she's not the only one, the harder it is for all of the students and the harder it is for the teacher," says Stewart.
Jason Reddy, an Assistant Superintendent for the Kuna School District, tells me the domino effect of a failed levy would be felt in classrooms.
"We will serve everybody that's here as best we can, but I think it would be a challenging thing for our classroom teachers to see a levy not pass this year," says Reddy.
"If it doesn't pass, you know there's definitely an impact in losing teachers," says Conger.
