Tuesday’s elections: a presidential primary, school levies

 

While Republican voters decide between Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich, North Idaho voters will decide whether to put money into their schools.

Three Panhandle districts will have supplemental levies on Tuesday’s ballot. And as the Spokane Spokesman-Review’s Scott Maben reported Thursday, some administrators are apprehensive about their prospects.

“What we’re trying to do is make that sure everybody exercises their right to vote,” Kellogg School District superintendent Woody Woodford told Maben. “I would hope that everyone understands how important education of kids is, no matter their party affiliation.”

Kellogg has a two-year, $5.36 million levy on the ballot. In Wallace, voters will decide on a two-year, $3.7 million levy, while Lakeland will seek a one-year, $5.3 million levy.

Elsewhere in Idaho, school administrators went out of their way to avoid Tuesday’s ballot.

“We saw many more elections in November for levies than we have in the past, because they were looking forward to this March election and realizing it would be on a partisan ballot,” Idaho School Boards Association executive director Karen Echeverria told Maben.

Two of Idaho’s three largest school districts, West Ada and Nampa, passed supplemental levies in November.

Check back at Idaho Education News Wednesday for a full school elections roundup.

Kevin Richert

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 30 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRichert. He can be reached at [email protected]

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