Coalition works for subdistrict

The state Board of Education this spring shot down the request from the communities of Hope and Clark Fork to split their two small schools from the rest of the Lake Pend Oreille School District. This fall, the board refused to reconsider the request.

Now the grass-roots group behind the deconsolidation effort is pitching a new plan.

The Hope-Clark Fork Coalition for Quality Education wants to from a subdistrict – a taxing district of its own within the school district. On Monday, the group submitted the request and a petition signed by about 50 community members to the Lake Pend Oreille School Board.

Superintendent Mark Berryhill on Wednesday said the request didn’t meet Idaho code, so the district has asked the coalition to make some changes to the request and resubmit it to the school board. In the meantime, Berryhill said the district is doing additional research on subdistricts.

Berryhill said the district doesn’t know of any other school subdistricts in the state, but he believes the law allows for subdistricting within a school district. The proposed subdistrict would be governed by the Lake Pend Oreille District, but would be able to levy taxes for school construction projects and improvements.

“They’re interested in pursuing the idea of establishing a taxing district with the idea they could tax themselves to make improvements on facilities,” Berryhill said.

Berryhill said the residents within the subdistrict wouldn’t have to pass taxes for facility levies or bonds within the greater district, but would still have to pay their share for supplemental levies the Lake Pend Oreille District passes.

About 40-50 people attended a community meeting on Monday to discuss the future of Hope and Clark Fork schools with the school board, Berryhill said. A public workshop has been planned for 3 p.m. Dec. 16 at Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School to answer some of the questions parents and community members asked during that meeting.

Berryhill said most of the concerns involved the district’s allocations of funds to the two small schools and a desire to provide a richer curriculum to students at the high school.

The Hope-Clark Fork Coalition for Quality Education put a deconsolidation request in front of the school board in August 2003.

Parents and community members in the group said the small schools would benefit if they formed a district of their own. Supporters of the split said Hope and Clark Fork schools had a limited offering of courses and extracurricular activities. They said a split would mean more money for the schools and more community support for school levies.

The Lake Pend Oreille School Board hired a consultant to look at deconsolidation. The issue could have gone to voters this fall, but the state Board of Education denied the district’s request to put the matter before voters.

The Board of Education then refused to reconsider the request when the coalition appealed.

Berryhill said everyone involved – from the district to the school board to the coalition – is working toward a common goal.

“There’s a true willingness on everyone’s part to look at the issues and come up with solutions and increase understanding and communications,” he said.