PONDERAY ­— Recruit, train and retain highly effective personnel.

That is one of the priorities outlined under the Lake Pend Oreille School District’s strategic planning efforts. It is also much of the reason district administrators are recommending a more than $8 million increase over the current two-year supplemental levy amount, for a total of $25,362,167.

“We are, obviously, only as strong of a system as the people that we have here,” said LPOSD Superintendent Shawn Woodward, during Monday’s board meeting. “The single biggest determinant of a child’s success is that child’s teacher.”

The current two-year levy, which expires in June, was approved for $17 million. Currently, the cost to taxpayers per $300,000 with homeowner’s exemption is $27.66 per month, said Lisa Hals, the district’s chief financial and operations officer.

“Under our projections, that would go up to $36.83, or an additional $9.17 per month,” Hals said of the proposed $25 million.

About 30 percent of the district’s budget is funded through the supplemental levy, which goes before voters every two years. The funds are mainly distributed among technology, student activities, curriculum, maintenance and staffing.

Staffing saw the largest increase in the recommendations, as personnel accounts for roughly 84 percent of the district’s budget, Woodward said. The recommended amount over the next two years is $20,979,862 — a more than $7 million increase over the current levy funds for staffing.

“We want to increase salaries and wages for all employees to ensure we are competitive,” Woodward said.

The increase would also allow the district to hire additional staff due to enrollment increases, hire a second school resource officer, maintain elementary counseling support, and increase non-tuition based full-day kindergarten, Woodward said.

The recommended $1,065,000 for technology is slightly lower than the current amount of $1,078,944. Curriculum is looking at an increase of $350,000 over current, mainly in professional development, with a recommended two-year total of $857,400.

Student activities are funded solely through levy dollars and private fundraisers, Hals said, because there are no state or federal dollars to support them. The recommended amount for the 2019-2021 levy is $619,302 — a $90,000 increase over the current two-year amount, primarily due to supplies needed for coaches. The recommended total for maintenance is $1,006,603, which is $145,852 more than the current total, as the district continues to increase contributions into the plant fund. The maintenance department is looking to add two part-time groundskeepers in the summer as well.

Hals said they are also recommending $420,000, or $210,000 per year, for bus purchases. All school districts need to keep buses on the state’s depreciation schedule, she said, and the district replaced half of the fleet, 20 buses, in 2008-2009. For the last three years, the district has been replacing three buses per year as well. To keep the buses on the depreciation schedule, they need to purchase five buses a year for the next four years. Two of those buses each year would be purchased with levy dollars.

Board members will deliberate the recommendations on Tuesday, Nov. 27 during an early start meeting at 5 p.m. The final meeting for ballot recommendation and resolution is scheduled for 6 p.m., Dec. 11. All meetings will be held in the Ponderay Events Center, 401 Bonner Mall Way. The final ballot will go before voters on March 12, 2019.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.