School District Asking Voters To Patch Leaky Roofs

Four schools with crumbling, leaky roofs have prompted the Bonner County School District to ask voters for a $995,000 levy to make repairs.

Water damage at Priest River Elementary School is so bad the district may be forced to close six classrooms next year if it is not fixed.

“This is not about aesthetics, it’s frankly about student safety,” said Superintendent Max Harrell.

“The damage has become a danger. We have water leaking into light fixtures.”

The district’s maintenance supervisor already recommended the classrooms at the Priest River school be closed off, fearing students and staff could be electrocuted.

A seeping roof at Washington Elementary School also has soaked classroom walls, weakening a cinder block portion of the building.

“Fixing these roofs is an absolute necessity but we don’t have the money to do it,” Harrell said.

“We felt we had to give the voters one more opportunity to help us solve some of these problems.”

The district tried to pass a $5.6 million levy in April.

It included repairs to many of the dilapidated roofs, but voters rejected that levy.

In one school earmarked as a polling place, a portion of the roof collapsed under a rainstorm while residents were voting.

“This isn’t about water dripping on a desk, these are major structural problems,” Harrell said.

This week the school board unanimously approved running the supplemental levy.

It’s slated for Aug. 6 with polls open from noon until 8 p.m.

About $850,000 of the levy is earmarked for roof repairs at Washington, Priest River, Farmin-Stidwell Elementary and Clark Fork Junior and Senior High.

The rest of the money, $145,000, will buy books and other classroom materials.

“It’s a pretty clean-cut levy and very specific,” Harrell said.

“It covers a basic necessity and we hope the voters will see it that way.”

The district already has done some belt-tightening to draft a balanced budget since the April levy failed.

Because there is no money to purchase new buses, the district will consolidate some routes.

That means existing buses will have to run two or three routes instead of one.

The trustees also cut 10 percent of the athletic budget, saving about $65,000. Harrell said it will be up to athletic directors at each school to decide how to run their sports programs on the reduced budget.

That could mean having fundraisers or charging students to participate in certain programs.

“We didn’t cut staff or go in and cut the heart out of any program, but some will feel the effects of reduced funding,” Harrell said.

The district allowed for salary increases for teachers, based on years of experience and college credit, but has no money for across-the-board salary increases.

The special education program also received reduced funding and will not be able to hire needed staff.

“The good news is we are not starting this year with a $700,000-plus deficit,” Harrell said.

, DataTimes