For decades, Idaho schools followed a familiar playbook for running ballot measures.

Bonds were to build new buildings. Plant-facilities levies were for big repairs or remodels, like replacing a boiler or a roof. And supplemental levies were to expand or add programs like shop classes and athletics.

But as bonds become increasingly rare, districts are searching for other ways to pay for new facilities and cover day-to-day expenses.

“Districts are just feeling the pinch,” said Senator Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, who is working with state superintendent Debbie Critchfield to rewrite Idaho’s K-12 funding formula. “They’re trying to be creative and get money where they can.”

State dollars account for most K-12 funding in Idaho, but local measures, which are a voter-authorized property tax, help school districts fill gaps to improve schools and supplement funding. Here’s a closer look at how some things are changing when it comes to running a local measure — and how some districts are adjusting.

Districts get creative as bonds fade

Bonds are becoming a rarity on Idaho ballots. In May, voters saw just two bonds. Neither passed.

Voters won’t see any bonds on their ballots on Nov. 3, and one hasn’t passed in a November election since 2017.

The hurdle for passing a bond helps explain their scarcity. Idaho is one of two states that require a two-thirds supermajority of votes for a bond to pass, which hasn’t happened since May 2024.

“Everyone is backing down,” said Rich Bauscher, a retired superintendent who consults districts on ballot measures. “The bonds you used to run are becoming extinct.”

Bonds and plant-facilities levies are the primary funding mechanisms for building and upgrading facilities, although the state invested over $1 billion in 2024 to help modernize Idaho’s schools.

Fewer districts are also proposing plant-facilities levies. In 2023, 14 districts ran a plant-facilities levy. In 2025, four districts put one on the ballot.

Still, some districts, including Moscow, have turned to plant-facilities levies in place of bonds, in part because plant-facilities measures can require as little as 55% of voters’ support to pass.

Support needed to pass a plant-facilities measure varies depending on how much districts ask for and the total value of property within their borders. Moscow’s $65.6 million plant-facilities measure needs 60% of voter support to pass, though some measures could require more.

If approved Nov. 3, the levy would fund work traditionally required by a bond: turning a middle school into a high school. It would also be the first step in an approximately decade-long plan that would require another plant-facilities levy to eventually build a new middle school.

A district’s size and property values affect its ability to raise money through a plant-facilities levy. Idaho caps plant-facilities levy collections based on assessed property values within a district and the district’s total debt. Those with less property value within their boundaries have less capacity to raise money for a new building — a challenge when a new high school costs approximately $100 million.

In 2023, Idaho’s largest school district, West Ada, attempted a $500 million plant-facilities levy to bankroll two new elementary schools, a new career-technical education center, and other maintenance, repairs, and renovations. The measure failed with 43% of voters in support, far below the 55% it needed to pass.

The option to use a plant-facilities levy has been available since a 2015 state Supreme Court case upheld the practice.

Here’s a closer look at measures Idaho districts are asking voters to approve Nov. 3. 

Supplemental levies become lifelines

Supplemental maintenance and operation levies were designed to cover costs beyond a district’s regular funding.

But 60% of Idaho districts had one on the books in fiscal year 2026. That number was even higher in 2024, with 75% of districts using a levy.

Districts often use the one- or two-year levies to pay ongoing costs, including salaries and benefits for teachers and classified staff. On average, at least 56% of supplemental levy funds on next month’s ballot would go to salaries and benefits, according to an EdNews analysis.

When Bauscher was a superintendent, he was against using levies to pay salaries because if one failed, people would lose their jobs. But it has become hard to avoid for districts, he said.

Lent said he’s not surprised superintendents are packing as much as they can into supplemental levies instead of trying for other types of ballot measures.

“They’re using the most flexible thing they have,” Lent said.

Superintendents say Idaho’s more than 30-year-old funding formula hasn’t kept up with schools’ staffing needs, especially for classified positions.

Genesee Superintendent Paul Anselmo calls those positions “super classifieds,” which include speech-language pathologists. In his rural area, Anselmo can’t find anyone to take the job, so the district contracts with someone who lives on the East Coast.

The district then pays a paraprofessional to shuttle students between speech therapy sessions and supervise them during appointments.

“You’re well in the hole for your classifieds,” Anselmo said.

To reflect where the gap is, Genesee trustees included $216,000 for special education services on next month’s levy.

“We believe in educating every kid, but some kids cost a bit more to educate, and you see that with special education,” Anselmo said.

Statewide, the gap between what districts are reimbursed from the state and federal government and what they spend on special education is at least $100 million.

West Jefferson Superintendent Shane Williams has added maintenance funds to his supplemental levy in recent years because, as school construction costs rose, he realized the district couldn’t build a new school even if a bond passed.

A new elementary school typically costs about $25 million, Bauscher said. Idaho law allows districts to bond up to 5% of their total market value. West Jefferson’s maximum bond capacity is $17.8 million. So Williams added custodians and maintenance staff to his supplemental levy bill to focus on keeping their aging facilities clean and up to code.

“We see that more as a better investment of taxpayer money to keep our facilities in good shape because if not it’s going to be a really expensive ask later on,” Williams said.

Payette is using supplemental levy funds for projects typically covered by plant-facilities levies. Next month voters could approve $3 million over two years to renovate the gym and locker rooms, buy new stadium lights and replace playground equipment.

Other districts have grown heavily reliant on the supplemental funds. Coeur d’Alene’s supplemental levy makes up 26% of its budget. Losing the levy would mean closing schools, laying off staff and increasing class sizes, Superintendent Shon Hocker said.

In his more than 20 years in education, Hocker said districts have grown more reliant on the measures as the funding formula grows more outdated.

“It’s really that shift between those extras, those one-offs, those nice-to-haves,” Hocker said of supplemental levies. “To now they’re really a mandatory lifeline.”