Virus Puts Bug In School’s Budget Bonner County District Could Lose $150,000 For High Absentee Rate During Whooping Cough Outbreak

The whooping cough outbreak that hit Bonner County in November has left the school district with an ailing budget.

The virus kept an average of 940 students out of school for two weeks. Since state funding for schools is based on average daily attendance, the district stands to lose about $150,000 in state money.

Superintendent Leonard Parenteau has twice asked the state to make an exception and not include the high absentee rate in its calculations.

Both times the district was turned down.

“We weren’t asking for anything more than we were entitled to,” said Assistant Superintendent Jim Fisher. “As it stands now, we are getting penalized by the state for abiding by health department recommendations.”

The Panhandle Health District flew in specialists to help deal with the near-epidemic whooping cough outbreak. They recommended the district not close schools, saying it could better control the spread of the virus by monitoring students.

The strategy worked. But if the schools had closed there wouldn’t be an argument about funding.

“The law says if you shut down as a result of a health problem those days are not counted in the funding formula,” Fisher said.

“All we want is to cast out those two weeks of excessive absentees and we would not have a problem.”

State Rep. Carol Pietsch, D-Sandpoint, said the district is a victim of a quirky state law - one she is now trying to amend.

“The way it’s written now there is no waiver for districts that stay open during an outbreak of a disease,” Pietsch said. “It’s no one’s fault. The state is just abiding by the letter of the law.”

Pietsch wants to reword the law so schools that stay open during emergencies are not shorted in the funding formula. She wants to make the amendments to the law retroactive so Bonner County will get all its money. In the meantime, she advised the district to make an appeal to the State Board of Education.

“I’m hoping they will realize the unusual circumstances and grant a waiver. I’m confident something can be worked out with the state board,” Pietsch said. “If not, I think I have support to amend the law. The money is there (for Bonner County). The question is how to get at it.”

Parenteau said attendance rates determine how much state money the district gets to hire teachers. The snafu will cost about four teaching positions next year.

“If we have to make up for those positions out of our regular budget it could have quite an impact,” he said.