D91 Employee News:

While a lot of us were focused on the Super Bowl last week, students from Idaho Falls and Skyline high schools have been zeroed in on their own Souper Bowl.

The annual Souper Bowl, now its 18th year, is a canned food drive that helps to fill the Community Food Basket's needs for more than three months. Yes, three months!

The real story of the Souper Bowl is our students. Working tirelessly behind the scenes months in advance, students from Skyline and Idaho Falls high schools secure donations and organize drop-off sites. Setting aside time with friends, student leaders seek out community organizers to join in the cause and use their social media skills to generate support.

The result? The area's second largest food drive for the Idaho Falls Community Food Basket. This year, the students outdid themselves. Both schools beat their school goals and set a record. Together, they collected 327,470 cans of food! That is about 94,000 cans more than last year. Wow!

So the next time you hear someone talking about lazy or apathetic students, let’s remind them our students are leaders who serve their community. Let’s remind them our students do whatever it takes to help those most in need. Most of all, let’s remind them our students give selflessly to make a powerful difference in our community.

In this new section of the Employee Newsletter, I'm continuing to answer questions about the district's budget. This week, we got questions about the district's budget surplus, the superintendent's lunch budget and whether taxpayer money should be put into students. Remember, if you have questions about the budget or hear something that doesn't sound quite right, submit them using this link.

Question 1. How much is the lunch budget for the superintendent? The lunch budget for the superintendent is a whopping $0. I love a mean kale salad but I bring that from home.

Question 2: Why does the district keep an $11 million surplus?

What a great question! It’s a lot of money, isn’t it? The surplus is the district’s savings account or fund balance. Let’s take a look at how that fund balance is used.

D91 has more staff than the state allocates to the district. D91 also pays staff more than the state allocates to the district, which I wholeheartedly support. Our teachers and staff are critical to student success.

The district has been using the supplemental levy and the fund balance to provide additional staff and pay whenever possible. At the end of June, the fund balance will be around $7.5 million. If we continue to tap into that account, as we have the last few years, our savings will be gone in about two years.

Why does that matter? Although it doesn’t happen often, there have been times when the state has held back funding to districts. A strong fund balance provides financial stability through unexpected events such as holdbacks, especially since the district spends between $5.5 and $6 million to meet payroll each month.

This year, the state has not yet reimbursed districts for costs related to Special Education. To cover those expenses, the district has used funds from the fund balance. The district must cover the costs of federal programs such as Title I, Child Nutrition, English Learner, and migrant before D91 can be reimbursed for those costs. The district also uses the fund balance to cover these costs.

And, just like your home budget, there are often unexpected expenses. Last month, one of our bus engines went out. It costs $30,000 to replace a bus engine. The cost to replace the bus is around $175,000. While a new engine is expensive, it is the most cost effective choice. A district as large as D91 will have many unexpected expenses like these throughout the year. The fund balance covers these unexpected costs.

The Idaho Falls School District 91 School Board is working to establish the guidelines for a strong and healthy fund balance. It will take careful planning and time to restore the fund balance so the district is in a good position, especially since state funding is now based on Average Daily Attendance, which will result in reduced funding for districts. Thank you to the board for their work and efforts to establish a strong budget and financial foundation for D91!

Question 3 : Shouldn't taxpayer money be put into students? D91’s commitment to staff and strong salaries is one of the most important ways the district puts money into our students. The district has also made a strong commitment to student learning by utilizing available funds for all-day kindergarten, evidence-based curriculum materials, Career & Technical Education, and supports to help students graduate from high school. These are just a few of the examples of how the district uses taxpayer money to support students.

The Intervention Committee continues to research intervention models, which may change the school schedule to include four days of a traditional class schedule and then one day of interventions.

Members of the committee recently visited three Bonneville School District 93's middle schools and high schools to see an intervention model at work. Students who need additional help to understand concepts or complete work attend school on Monday morning. This half day of school provides time for teachers to work with students who need help the most. During the second half of the day, teachers meet in teams to plan learning experiences and address how to help close students’ learning gaps.

Committee members were able to visit classrooms and talk to teachers, administrators, and students. The committee was able to observe small groups of students receiving instruction while another small group was working on a test or completing unfinished work.

Bonneville School District 93 has held intervention day on both Mondays and Fridays so teachers and administrators also shared the differences between hosting interventions on Mondays and Fridays. One of the primary differences reported was that on a Monday intervention day students and teachers felt less stress as they started the week. Teachers also shared that students were more focused and prepared to work on Mondays. Fridays offered families the opportunity to start their weekend early with family activities and travel. Friday intervention days had higher student absenteeism rates than Mondays. Fridays also gave athletes time to travel to games without missing classes.

There is a lot to consider as we evaluate how to best use time to serve our students. This week the Intervention Committee will be evaluating student achievement data for districts that have implemented an intervention model. The committee will also begin to discuss how an intervention model could be used to serve students in D91. Please watch for more updates in next week’s newsletter!

• Oct. 10-Feb. 23: ISAT interim Assessments, Optional Benchmark Assessments (To learn more, contact Thomas Kennedy, D91's Director of Intervention & Support. You can reach him at kennthom@sd91.org)
• Jan. 29-Feb. 23: WIDA Access Testing Window
• Feb. 15: Board Business Meeting, 5 pm, District Office
• Feb. 19: NO SCHOOL, President's Day
• Feb. 26: Lion King by Longfellow's Drama Club, Noon, Colonial Theater
• Feb. 27: Board Work Session, 4 pm
• Feb. 29: End of 2nd Trimester

D91's magnet school – Compass Academy – is now accepting applications for incoming freshman. Compass prides itself on developing innovative creators through project-based and problem-based learning. If you want to learn more about project-based or problem-based learning, check out the student Expo on Feb. 22 from 5 to 6 pm. Apply today!

The Idaho Department of Education is seeking nominations for one of the state’s most prestigious awards, CapEd Credit Union Idaho Teacher of the Year. The award is open to all Idaho public and charter school educators teaching any subject at any grade level.

“This contest is such an effective way for me, my department and the entire state to get to know some of the awe-inspiring educators that we have in classrooms all around Idaho,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield. “If you know of a teacher who’s gone above and beyond for their students, I’d encourage you to take a moment to let them know that their efforts are noticed and appreciated by nominating them for this honor.”

The 2025 Idaho Teacher of the Year will receive a cash award of $10,000 courtesy of CapEd Credit Union and will travel across the state to share with other educators, legislators and policymakers about teaching, curriculum, best practice and more. They will also serve as Idaho’s nominee for National Teacher of the Year.

Nominations are due to the Idaho Department of Education by March 18. All nominated teachers will be notified on March 22 and will have until May 20 to submit their applications. A blue ribbon selection committee will then review each application, and the winning educator will be announced in the fall. Learn more and nominate your favorite teacher today!