Regional Spelling Bee Loses District Support

The Bonneville School District is canceling its sponsorship of a 10-county regional spelling bee for this year because the event was just getting too expensive.

The district had provided the regional winner with an expense-paid trip to the national spelling bee in Washington, D.C. The trip costs more than $2,000, which administrators said they can no longer afford to pick up.

The district’s education foundation covered the $5,000 cost of the regional competition.

“We’re taking this year off and are trying to find better ways to pay for it,” Assistant Superintendent Mandy Saras said. “If we had more support and sponsors it could happen.”

According to national rules, students have to win a registered competition to qualify for the national spelling bee. In eastern Idaho, the registered competition has always been the regional bee because most school districts do not register their districtwide competitions.

For years, the regional bee was held in Dubois and was organized by the Clark County School District. That district quit doing it about six years ago because of the expense.

There was no regional spelling bee for a few years. Then in 1997, Bonneville revived the contest. That year, eight school districts sent their top spellers. Last year, 11 districts did.