BONNERS FERRY — Boundary County voters will face a familiar question this November: Should they approve a maintenance and operations levy proposed by the Boundary County School District? 

The question comes after BCSD board trustees voted Tuesday, Feb. 10 to place a maintenance and operations levy on the Nov. 3 ballot.  

BCSD Vice Chair Teresa Rae said that it is an ongoing levy that the school district has historically ran every two years.

However, voters rejected the levy in November of 2024, which would have cost taxpayers $98 per $100,000 of assessed property value. That levy totaled $2.31 million, which accounted for about 15% of the district’s overall budget. 

“We've kept it at $2.4 million because that's what we have had and we felt a monetary crunch through the years,” Rae said. “At the same time, we are going to really look at that number. There's a chance we would want to ask for more or there's a chance we would want to ask for less.”

Rae said the amount for this levy will be set in the early fall of 2026 after analyzing all of the changes and inputs they anticipate occurring over the next six months.

In 2024, the levy was intended to fund safety, security, maintenance, special programs, salaries and benefits, and other initiatives.

Rae said the benefits of running the levy during the November election outweigh the challenges that come with sharing the ballot with federal races. 

“The problem is, if you don’t run it in November and you wait until May, the budget cycle is so tight,” Rae said. “Your budget is turned in to the state by June. That throws you into a horrible bind, with only a couple of weeks to enact a new budget.” 

Scheduling the levy for November will also allow the district time to adapt after the Idaho legislative session concludes. 

“It’ll be done by the end of March and we’ll know what comes out of that and what we have to plan for,” Rae said. “The worst thing to come out of the Legislature this year would be a 2% or 3% holdback. But even then, we can weather that for a year or two.” 

Other financial unknowns include the impact of North Idaho Classical Academy’s opening in August. BCSD Superintendent Jan Bayer told board trustees that 74 current BCSD students are enrolled at the charter school. 

“We also will know by then how many kids will be going to the charter school, which will affect our numbers and our funding,” Rae said. “There’s no good or bad about that. It is what it is and it will allow us to plan better.” 

Rae said there are also uncertainties surrounding online education programs. 

“That program was originally established for rural schools,” Rae said. “What we’re hearing is that some larger schools have taken advantage of that program. For instance, they’ll put 30 kids in an English IDLA course online and not have it proctored by a certified teacher.” 

As of now, no budget cuts are in place, NICA has not held a lottery to confirm attendees and online school has not been affected. 

“All of these are unknowns at this time,” Rae said. “They’re not necessarily scary or detrimental. They’re going to be what they’re going to be and we are going to plan accordingly.” 

Rae emphasized that the board and superintendent are themselves Boundary County taxpayers. 

“I would say that we as a school district are constantly looking at best practices so that we can deliver the best possible education for the least amount of cost to our taxpayers,” Rae said. 

Rae said she does not view the situation negatively. 

“Though there is much budget uncertainty for the county, we are viewing it as a positive,” she said. “We’re taking it head-on. It’s not doom and gloom. We hope our constituents have faith in the school board and the district to provide the public education our county deserves.” 

She also praised the district’s performance. 

“Our test scores are outstanding,” Rae said. “We’ve got a lot of people working hard in the school district and I’m super thankful for all of them.” 

The district is expected to finalize the levy amount later this year.