School Board A Tough Job, But Many Willing To Do It

You’ll put in long hours. You’ll sit in the hot seat, responsible for someone else’s money and someone else’s kids.

You’ll get no pay. At times, it will seem like you get even less gratitude.

That’s hardly an attractive job description.

So why, every spring, do people seek election to their local school boards?

Simply because the job is so important, say North Idaho residents who’ve tackled it.

“That’s the future,” said Douglas Jutila, a miner who has been on the Mullan School District board of trustees for 16 years. “If the kids don’t get the right education at the start, in primary and secondary school, they can’t get ready for college. They won’t be ready to run this country.”

Elections are coming up May 21. Board members serve three-year terms. They must be at least 18 years old.

“We’ve had them as young as 19 and as old as their upper 70s,” said Alan Smith, director of the Idaho School Board Association.

Nationally, the average board member is a white man between the ages of 40 and 51.

The last time the Idaho association checked, 42 percent of trustees were women.

Smith, who’s had his job for 26 years, said he did 15 years of “school boarding” before that.

A former member of the Cottonwood school board survived 52 years of meetings, setting a record tied with a trustee in Ohio.

Lengthy service is becoming uncommon.

The average Idaho school board tenure was 10.5 years in the early 1970s. It was 4.2 years when the state association took its last survey a couple of years back.

“People talk about setting term limits,” said Smith. “I’d be pleased if they passed a law saying you had to serve two years.”

People move more frequently these days, Smith said. But many trustees quit out of frustration and constant second-guessing of their decisions, he said.

“Most of them are disillusioned because of all the rules, regulations and restrictions that have been imposed on school boards.

“Also, the business community and the media and everybody else knows all the answers without ever being in the trenches and knowing what the questions are.”

In recent years, one question facing Douglas and other Mullan board members was how to finance the schools in the face of dropping enrollment caused by mine closures.

The opposite problem is much more common. Population growth in counties like Kootenai and Bonner have many schools bursting at their aging seams.

Trustees’ main tool for building more schools is a levy that requires two-thirds approval of the voters.

“That’s one of the toughest things you ever want to try to accomplish,” said Blaine Stevens, a logging contractor who has spent 17 of the past 21 years on the Sandpoint school board.

Idaho is the only state that requires that “super majority” without offering matching state funds.

Stevens recalled a successful 1987 levy that built or remodeled six schools.

That was a high point in the roller coaster ride of his school board tenure.

But asked about the biggest challenge facing schools, his top item isn’t financial. Teachers and administrators must spend too much time dealing with social issues, he said.

“Sex education, drug education, single-parent families, divorces. … We could use more help from churches, from law enforcement.”

Sometimes those issues fall squarely in the laps of trustees. That just adds to the time they spend on school matters.

“There’s literally no end to the amount of time you can put into it if you legitimately follow up issues,” said goldsmith Ken Burchell, who estimates he spends 80 hours or more each month on Coeur d’Alene school board business.

After he was elected three years ago, Burchell was surprised by the size and complexity of the district’s $31 million annual budget.

“That’s a monster.”

Some school boards are harmonious. The one on which Burchell serves has had so much friction that, at one point, he was ousted as chairman. But he still finds gratification in the job.

“Every time a parent tells me they’re pleased with our new elementary curriculum, or any time I see any measurable improvement in the education job we do in the district, I feel I’m making a difference.”

Burchell wouldn’t say whether he will seek a second term.

Donald Soltman will run again for his seat on the Lakeland school board.

Soltman, a hospital administrator, agreed that board membership has its rough moments.

“You get into a meeting, and midnight’s approaching, and you’ve put in a full day at work, and the meeting’s going into the fifth hour. …”

But he also said the job has its rewards.

“We spend a lot of time in long-range planning. I find it extremely challenging,” Soltman said. “When we’re successful, I feel good about what it does for the kids.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS ARE MAY 21 School board elections will be held May 21. One or more positions will be on the ballot at school districts throughout North Idaho. Forms for declaring candidacy are available at district offices, where they must be filed by April 19. Applicants must be registered to vote, at least 18 years of age, and lived in the trustee zone for at least 30 days. Their applications must include the signatures of at least five qualified voters in the zone where they live. - Julie Titone