BONNERS FERRY — A new supplemental levy will be the focus of a special Boundary County School District board meeting in August.

"Basically, if we don't run a levy and we keep where we're at, by the end of the first fiscal year, we'd be down to a million dollars in reserve funds," BDSD Superintendent Jan Bayer said at the July 20 school board meeting.

That amount would cover less than a month at current spending and program levels, Bayer told the board.

A special board workshop is planned for 5 p.m. Aug. 17 to discuss the issue.

How to approach a potential maintenance and operations levy, often called a supplemental levy, was a focus of the BCSD board meeting on July 20. Political subdivisions such as the school district must submit any proposed bonds, levies and referendums to county clerks by Aug. 28 in order to be included on the Nov. 3 general election.

"By no means do we have to do what we did last time, but what we did is show on the ballot how much we were going to spend in each of those areas," Bayer told trustees at the meeting while presenting a recommendation to move forward with a ballot measure similar to its existing supplemental levy.

Approved in May 2025, the two-year $2.4 million maintenance and operations levy makes up between 12% and 15% of the district's general fund.

Trustees discussed potential items to include on a supplemental levy, including athletics and extracurricular activities.

"We can, with 100% certainty, run reports and show you this is what we spent the money on and if we don't get that money, those items are gone," Bayer told trustees.

While the district is on target to hit its financial goals, Bayer told the board there isn't "much room to wiggle."

While Bayer told the board she recommended the district maintain its current supplemental levy amount, she said she wanted the district to research all options. As part of that, the superintendent said information needs to include all options, from not having a levy to existing levy levels.

"I want us to really have our game plans on," Bayer told the board. "This is what it looks like without a levy. This is with a reduced levy. This is a mod-podge and have the community really say, 'This is what we want.'"

In other news, BCSD officials said the district has not received any applicants for its open Zone 3 school board seat. The post was declared vacant on May 30.

Per Idaho Code, the vacancy is filled by the school board, which will interview interested candidates. The individual appointed to the post will complete the remaining 17 months of the four-year term previously held by Mike Ferguson. At the end of the term, the appointee will need to run for election in 2027.

Zone 3 covers the city of Bonners Ferry east of U.S. 95, a small area north of the Kootenai River, east to the bank of the Kootenai River and north of the western part of Kootenai Trail.

Letters of interest must be turned in at the district office no later than Aug. 31. The district hopes to complete interviews between Aug. 31 and Sept. 14 and appoint someone as trustee at the Sept. board meeting.

The Boundary County School District is seeking community members to serve on its Facilities Committee.

While a notice has been sent to existing committee members, Bayer said interested community members should contact the central office if they'd like to join the committee.

Construction on the new Valley View Elementary is going well and all activities at the school are shut down for the summer, Bayer said in her monthly superintendent's report to the board.

Bayer also told the board the district's new Career-Technical Education building is nearing completion with a public viewing of the new facility planned for late August.

Also in the report, Bayer said the district would continue its family engagement nights in the coming school year as would efforts to continue effective teaching and instruction in BCSD classrooms. A focus on math will continue in the coming school year, the superintendent added.

"We have not forgotten reading and writing, but math will continue to be the focus, and you'll see data on that throughout the year," Bayer told the board. "With the guaranteed and viable curriculum, we're finally where we wanted to be three years ago. … We are now to the point where we can look horizontally and vertically with our essential learning standards, and then look at what the state says is essential."

Bayer said the district can now look at the state of Idaho's testing blueprints and other target areas to continue to offer students and district residents a top-quality education.

Attendance will continue to be a focus and district staff and math observations will be a focus for district administrators, Bayer said.

Bayer also updated the board on PowerSchool, a web-based student information system that manages student data and streamlines school operations. A teacher portal connects families to teachers, boosting communication while giving staff a spot for classroom management and grading.

Designed for K-12 schools and school districts, PowerSchool has been fully implemented in grades K-8, with the district now at a point where it can tweak the system as needed.

"PowerSchool has a lot of capabilities, and I think we can make our teachers' lives a lot easier," Bayer told the board.