Sara Leaming

West Valley School District is fighting its reputation for having the worst graduation rates in Washington. The district is asking state school Superintendent Terry Bergeson to separate West Valley High School's academic results from its two alternative high schools. The latter two schools, Contract Based Education and Spokane Valley High School, cater to students who opt out of the traditional school systems in the area to earn a diploma. The vast majority of those students live outside the West Valley School District.

The most important boundary in high school sports is no longer the goal line. Instead, the most important boundary is the one being drawn between high school coaches and their athletes.

The Central Valley School District Board decided Monday to build a new elementary school on land closer to the bulging student population in Liberty Lake. Pending voter approval of a $55.2 million construction bond on March 14, board members voted unanimously to select the Mission Avenue and Holl Road site for the next elementary school.

Spokane's policy of charging nonresidents an extra $100 for an ambulance ride is drawing fire from some high school sports officials. Under a 1997 resolution passed by the Spokane City Council, nonresidents injured in the city and transported by ambulance are assessed a surcharge on top of fees charged by the ambulance provider.

A 24-year-old Spokane Valley man accused of killing his wife over an alleged affair told police he "blacked out" during the argument that may have ended Jamie Braffith's life. According to court records, Anselmo Ricardo Braffith III, who had been drinking and only remembered hitting his wife "in the back," woke up Saturday morning to find her dead, covered with a bloody blanket at the foot of the basement stairs at the couple's home in the 4400 block of North Adams Road. The court records contradict earlier reports, which gave a different last name for Jamie Braffith and said the Braffiths were not married.

The Freeman School District board of directors voted last week to hire a search firm to find a new leader for the 900-student district. Superintendent Bill Thurston announced this month that he plans to retire at the end of the school year.

New homeowners moving into the Central Valley School District could be paying a one-time $1,410 impact fee to help offset the impact of widespread growth. That is one issue addressed in Central Valley's draft capital facilities plan, now available to view online at the district's Web site at www.cvsd.org. The district is asking the community to view the document and make comments until Wednesday.

A former Stevens County schoolteacher and coach accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student is facing felony charges. Robert M. Swalstad, a former teacher at Columbia High School in Hunters, Wash., was arrested in June on suspicion of third-degree rape of a child after Natasha A. Finley came forward and said she was pregnant with Swalstad's baby.

The Central Valley School District board of directors voted Monday to sell about 8,600 square feet of land to the city of Spokane Valley for road improvements to Barker Road, north of Interstate 90. The property at Mission Avenue and Barker is part of the district's alternative high school site, also known as Barker Community Learning Center.

Two new board members were sworn in at the East Valley School District Board of Directors meeting Tuesday night. Kerri Lunstroth, who ran uncontested in the November election for Director District 4, took the seat left vacant by longtime board member Sue Wentz, who did not seek another term.

Three Central Valley School District middle schools will return to having an assistant principal in the building all day in 2006. District staff decided in July not to fill two full-time assistant principal positions at four of the district's five middle schools because of an increase in principals' pay. Instead, two vice principals were sharing the responsibility at four schools.

The Central Valley School district is launching a new information system for willing community members. The district's Key Communicator Network will begin in January and will include a "loose-knit group of opinion leaders" who will agree to receive regular e-mails from the district and pass the content along to others.

The Central Valley School District is going forward with plans for the possible purchase of a 12.6-acre piece of property from a Liberty Lake developer. Under a contract under negotiation between River Crossing LLC and the district, the district would have two years to decide whether to buy the land at Mission Avenue and Holl Road to be used as a possible elementary school site, said Dave Jackman, director of auxiliary services for the district.

A 30-year-old Stevens County schoolteacher and coach accused of having sex with several female students was allowed to keep teaching two years after concerns were raised about his behavior. Robert M. Swalstad, a teacher at Columbia High School in Hunters, Wash., was first counseled about his inappropriate behavior with students in 2003, records state.