School annexation bid rejected

A contentious school district annexation petition in Bonner County was defeated by voters on Tuesday.

The issue involved 21 square miles along the border of Kootenai County. School district boundaries are along county lines, so students living in that area are being bused for two hours a day to attend West Bonner County School District schools, while Lakeland School District schools are minutes away.

A group of parents, led by Tonya Reed, wanted to annex the 21 square miles into the Lakeland district. Only registered voters living in that area could cast ballots on the issue.

Two questions needed to pass before the annexation could go forward. The first asked whether the voters wanted the annexation; that needed 50 percent approval and got only 47.5 percent. The second question asked whether the voters were willing to pay the tax rate of the Lakeland district; that needed 66 percent approval and got only 45.5 percent.

After waiting outside the polling place to get the unofficial results, Reed said she was not going to let go of the issue. “It still doesn’t change the fact that our kids are going to be on the school bus forever,” she said. “Someday we’re going to fix this.”

Reed plans on discussing options with Lakeland Superintendent Chuck Kinsey. Both school districts have directed their staffs to see what can be done to help students who live on the border, Kinsey said last week.

Both districts opposed the annexation request – West Bonner because it would lose more than 90 students and $600,000 in funding, Lakeland because the additional students would crowd Spirit Lake Elementary School and possibly Timberlake Junior High.

West Bonner parent Walter Larsen opposed the annexation petition. He wants to see a school built in nearby Blanchard, instead of students transferred to another district. West Bonner district officials have said land in Blanchard was donated to the district for that purpose. An elementary school could be ready by the 2007-2008 school year, Superintendent Tony Feldhausen said last week.

Larsen said the petition was flawed because the annexation did not include all of the lower Bonner County. Larsen said he agreed with the proponents of the annexation that the interests of children are critical. But, he said: “It is about the kids – all the kids, not a few.”