“The lottery funding is discretionary funding, so the state terms it as a special distribution, so it doesn’t have any specific strings tied to it.”

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — With the school year getting closer, school districts are working on their yearly budget.

The Twin Falls school districts get their funding from three different groups. Those are local funding such as levies, state funding, and federal funds. The school district says federal funds typically have strings tied to them and can only be used for certain items or programs.

The Idaho Lottery has provided more than $1 billion to Idaho public schools and buildings since 1989.

Eva Craner at the Twin Falls School Districts says funds are distributed based on the number of students in each district.

“The lottery funding is discretionary funding, so the state terms it as a special distribution, so it doesn’t have any specific strings tied to it,” said Craner. “It doesn’t have to be used for specific purposes. Schools and school districts have a little bit of latitude on what they want to do with that funding.”

She said the Twin Falls School District gets about $715,000 per year, which is roughly one and a quarter percent of their yearly budget.

https://www.kmvt.com/2021/07/19/idaho-lottery-has-donated-over-1-billion-idaho-schools-since-1989/