Boundary School Chief Bound For Wallace

The superintendent of the Boundary County School District will take over as top administrator in the Wallace School District on July 1.

Reid Straabe has been superintendent in Boundary County for four years and said he is taking the new job because it is a good opportunity.

“I’ll be able to work with and mentor three new principals,” Straabe said. “I’ve done that before and I’ve been successful at it.”

Boundary County has not hired a replacement for Straabe.

While leading the Boundary County district, Straabe said, he has helped add an alternative school and a summer school program. Also during his tenure, two elementary school gymnasiums were replaced.

“One fell down and the other was suspect that it could,” Straabe said. The new gyms were built using insurance money and funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The district also has passed supplemental levies every year Straabe has been there.

Among the challenges has been the district’s inability to pass a plant facility levy to build a new high school, he said.

“I would say there’s a disparity in the tax base,” Straabe said. “There’s too much state and federally owned lands. The tax base is placed heavily upon a small number of people.”

Straabe is encouraged by the public support for education he sees in Wallace.

“They seem to every year support a major supplemental levy,” Straabe said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”