Julie Wootton reports with tight budgets, some school districts are relying more on reserve funds to keep operations running next year.

The Twin Falls School District spent more than $1 million in carryover funds during the past year in order to balance its budget.

“We continue to consume what I call our safety net,” Fiscal Affairs Director Bob Seaman said during a Monday night school board meeting.

The district started with $2.3 million in reserves at the beginning of the school year. That has dwindled to an estimated $1.15 million that will be available at the start of next school year.

And by the end of next year, district officials predict there will be just $532,000 in reserves.

Superintendent Wiley Dobbs told the Times-News on Tuesday that reserve funds are getting “dangerously low.”

But the district planned to use that funding over the past two years and it’s played a role in avoiding larger cuts.

“We’ve been able to weather the storm so far without layoffs and program cuts,” Dobbs said.

The Idaho State Department of Education doesn’t have any guidelines for school districts when it comes to using reserve funds.

Chief of Staff Luci Willits said the average is for districts to have about one month worth of operating expenses set aside.

“Over the past three years, we’ve seen school districts rely on federal money both in stimulus funding and education job funding and reserve funding to keep districts whole or to minimize cuts,” Willits wrote in an email to the Times-News.

In Jerome, the school district plans to use $700,000 in reserve funds next year. That’s up from about $100,000 over the past couple of years.

Business Manager Brian Bridwell said the district will have to make some decisions in the future — such as whether to keep using reserve funding, cut jobs or restructure programs.

In Kimberly, Superintendent Kathleen Noh said next year’s budget will be “very tight,” but the district hasn’t used reserve funds yet.

“It’s certainly possible,” she said.

Gooding Superintendent Heather Williams said the district plans to use $292,429 in reserve funds next year.

At $2.3 million, the district’s fund balance is a little higher than some neighboring districts. Williams said efforts have been made over the past four years to rebuild reserves.

In Minidoka County, 11 teachers received layoff notices last month. And the district plans to use reserve funding to balance next year’s budget.

Business Manager Michelle Deluna said the hope is to have $1 million in carryover at the end of this year’s budget.

Although Deluna said she’s optimistic that the economic situation is starting to turn around, the school district is still running low on reserve funds.

“If something happened, we wouldn’t be able to make one month’s payroll,” she said.