SANDPOINT — At a short meeting of the Lake Pend Oreille School District Board of Trustees, Chief Financial Officer Brian Wallace said the district is preparing for a challenging budget year due to potential state budget cuts. 

Wallace said LPOSD’s students make up around 1% of the state’s total population and as such, 1% of any cut would be the estimated impact on the district. He used the example of $27.5 million statewide budget reduction, would cut the district’s budget by $275,000. 

"Next year is going to be a more challenging budget year, for sure. It looks like K-12 won't have any funding cuts, but there may not be any funding increases either,” Wallace said. “You can see if that $27.5 [million], how that would impact if they came down the pipe. We don't know; the decisions haven't been made. Hopefully that wouldn’t be the case.” 

In addition to the potential reduction from state funding, Wallace forecasted a slight reduction in enrollment, going from 191 funding units down to 189. Wallace said the enrollment forecast due to lower kindergarten numbers and a small ninth grade class, which isn’t expected to replace the outgoing senior class, district wide.  

It’s estimated that the reduction in three funding units would cause the district to lose around $310,000 next. Wallace said as the departments begin budgeting for fiscal year 2027, he’s asking that they submit a 5% reduction in discretionary spending. 

The cuts will not have an impact on staffing levels yet, Wallace said. He said there are still several unknowns that come with planning for next year’s budget, like health care costs and retirements that could change the picture as well.  

“Maybe Matt [Diel] purchases one less vehicle next year, right?” Wallace said giving an example the spending that may have to be reduced. “Things like that that, for one year it's good to take a look and make sure they’re all looking at that.” 

Despite the loss of revenue, Wallace said LPOSD is in a good financial position because of its fund reserves.  

"We do have some fund reserves, so that if we need to dip into them a little bit and be planful moving forward, we have that opportunity,” Wallace said. “Some other neighboring districts and districts across the state don't have that luxury, so that's been good planning well before I got here.” 

LPOSD Superintendent Dr. Becky Meyer, who was not in attendance at the meeting, previously told the Daily Bee that the district’s goal has been to extend the general fund balance out to 2027, before asking for another levy. 

On the positive side of the coin, Wallace announced that the afterschool programs at Farmin Stidwell, Kootenai and Southside elementary schools will be funded by federal dollars following the passage of House Resolution 7148.  

"Our CCLC after school program.... which we thought was going to go away, is funded for next year so that's really good news,” Wallace said.