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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

New School District Gets Serious Look Divide Bonner To Conquer Tensions, Levy Woes, Say Backers

The Bonner County School District is mulling whether to split in half.

The goal is to give residents more control over their schools and pass levies to improve education in a district that’s battling an estimated $415,000 debt.

The district’s 16 schools are scattered in five towns, with Clark Fork and Priest Lake nearly 100 miles apart.

The distance has spawned tension between the communities. And residents outside of Sandpoint perceive they are treated as stepchildren who get less money to put into educational programs.

“I don’t want them to just look at a split, I want to see them do it,” said Eric Eldenburg, president of the Priest River Chamber of Commerce who has two kids in school.

A division would give locals more control, more incentive to pass levies and stop some of the finger-pointing, he said.

“There are a lot of different reasons for splitting the district, but the only one for me is to improve education for the kids,” Eldenburg said.”My thought is it is the only solution to the district’s woes.”

Schools and patrons have argued over which buildings are repaired first and which areas get money for sports and educational programs. The division has even caused levies to fail.

The idea is to divide Sandpoint and Priest River into separate districts, with their own school boards and superintendents. Priest River has only one trustee on the board.

“Some argue we would be duplicating administration and it would cost more, but I don’t think you need an $80,000 superintendent to run this (Priest River) side of the district,” said Mike Boeck, who works for Idaho Forest Industries in Priest River but lives near Sandpoint.

“You wouldn’t need an $80,000 superintendent in Sandpoint either,” he added.

“I wouldn’t say this would be the ultimate solution to our problems but it is definitely worth a serious look. There is a lot of support for this in Priest River and quite frankly I haven’t heard anyone opposed to it.”

The school board late Tuesday agreed to set up a committee to consider the effectiveness of a division. Trustee Jerry Owens favors the idea and has already done homework on a proposal. He will chair the committee that will have two representatives from each of the five trustee zones.

“I think it will fly,” Owens said. “There is a lot of support out there and enough good reasons to do it. The bottom line though is to make sure the kids benefit. If they won’t then we shouldn’t do it.”

The district has long had trouble passing levies. Residents tend to reject paying higher taxes for an educational program that does not benefit their school or area.

Levy proposals that include something for every corner of the district are too expensive and have also failed.

“It becomes a real hard issue when you are 30 miles from the district office and they want you to spend money to fix a leaky roof in Clark Fork, a school 30 miles in the other direction,” Owens said.

“People have this feeling of no ownership over their schools and we have a history of infighting,” he said. “I think this would help eliminate some of those things that are really stifling this district.”

Owens hopes the committee will have a recommendation on whether to split the district by October. If the board agrees to do it, the district will have to draft a specific plan on how it will be done.

The state, which has offered to help the district split, would have to approve the plan. Residents would then vote on the proposal. If the measure passes, the state would appoint school trustees to serve until the next election in May.

“Many people feel we are treated as a separate entity now and this district is too large,” said Candy Lund, an elementary teacher in Priest River. “Even the state Department of Education had a tough time remembering to say Bonner County and not the Sandpoint district.”

, DataTimes