For the past 20 years, Nampa voters have approved two-year levies to help fund priority areas important to students in our school district. Because of the way our state chooses to fund education (Idaho has the lowest state funding in the country), 93 out of 115 school districts in the State of Idaho depend upon supplemental levies passing in their communities to pay for local needs and help bridge this funding gap. Nampa falls into this category.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Nampa School District received federal aid from the Elementary & Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds. This has been a blessing to our district; however, most of these funds have federal restrictions on when and how they can be used and spent. Thanks to input from our community members, our district has expanded summer school, hired additional teachers, and purchased additional curriculum to help students with the pandemic. Other expenses included updating schools HVAC systems, buying personal protective equipment, and an increase in pay for hard-to-fill positions like substitutes and classified personnel.
The current levy ($12.8 million) expires at the end of June. Thanks to these federal funds, along with good accounting practices, the district is in a position to possibly replace our current levy with a substantially lower levy. The levy money is still needed in order to keep running many of our programs that federal funds can't cover. School Board trustees would love to have your feedback as they work to make an informed decision.
A short video with more information is available at https://nampa.school/vid1 (English) or https://nampa.school/vid2 (español).
There are four ways to provide input:
Two public listening sessions:
- Columbia High: 7-8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6. Sign up to comment by 8 a.m. Monday at https://nampa.school/sign6
- Virtual: 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9. Sign up to comment by 8 a.m. Thursday at https://nampa.school/sign9
Share written comment with the board at https://nampa.school/fb1
Parents/guardians and staff can respond to a unique survey link emailed on Friday, Dec. 3.