Twin Falls School District trustees on Monday voted to authorize a reduction in force, facing another year of declining enrollment and another charter school opening in town this fall.
The district could have to cut between 18.5 to 21 staff positions for next school year. It all depends on how many teachers retire, how many kindergarteners enroll and how many students leave the district to enroll at the new Elevate Academy Twin Falls.
Superintendent Brady Dickinson said reductions in force always create anxiety among staff, but he believes that the vast majority of cuts will come through attrition, as teachers retire.
“The goal is to try to get them all,” Dickinson said. “I don’t think that’s a reality, but we’re going to be really close.”
Trustees did not vote to cut a specific number of positions, but instead adopted a resolution that authorizes Dickinson to implement and direct a reduction in force. He said the district will know more after Elevate Academy conducts their enrollment lottery.
The district has already been cutting about 20 staff positions annually for the past several years. District spokesperson Eva Craner told EdNews the district has lost funding for about 67 certified positions since the state switched back to average daily attendance from enrollment-based funding after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Enrollment has been sliding in Twin Falls since the 2021-22 school year. The district had 9,412 students that year, but has steadily dropped down to 8,774 this school year, a loss of 638 students in four school years.
Dickinson told trustees on Monday that the district has state funding for 461 instructional staff positions, but the district employs 482. He said the extra 21 staff are paid through the supplemental levy, carryovers and discretionary funding.
“We simply can’t afford to increase the number of positions in the Twin Fall School District that we’re not receiving state funds to support,” he said.
Elevate Academy Twin Falls is set to open in August for grades 6-12 and will serve 488 students at full capacity. Dickinson said the charter school can enroll 330 students this coming school year in grades 6-10. But some of those will probably come from other districts, charters or from homeschool families.
The district faced another drop when Gem Prep Twin Falls opened in 2023.
Dickinson said a reduction in force of about 20 staff members does not mean the district will have to fire that many teachers. They will exhaust all other strategies and first look to attrition.
“I’ve promised to be as transparent as possible throughout the process and also give employees updates along the way,” Dickinson said.
Board Chair Eric Smallwood said the reductions are no surprise and the district has been preparing for this moment for a while.
“It’s not a great position to be in, but it’s the position we are in,” Smallwood said.
