Riverside School Board incumbent faces two opponents

Candidates for the Riverside School Board say they want better communication and a balanced budget for the rural district north of Spokane.

Position 2 incumbent Larry Moskwik has two opponents, Steven Queener and Jim Fairbanks, for a four-year term in the Aug. 21 primary election.

“We are really struggling with the finances,” said Moskwik, who has lived in the district for more than 25 years. Both of his daughters graduated from Riverside High School.

Moskwik, 60, said he would like to continue using what he has learned to move the district forward despite ongoing problems with declining enrollment and budgets. Tense contract negotiations with teachers last summer resulted in informational pickets and a near-strike.

“I’m a strong proponent of good communication throughout the district. That’s something that any organization struggles with,” Moskwik said.

“I think we are struggling with it, but we are slowly, gradually making strides. I think in four more years, we are going to really move that communication forward.”

Queener is a former special-education teacher in the district who resigned in February for health reasons. He and his wife, Patricia Foster, have lived in the district for 25 years, and their daughter graduated from Riverside High.

Queener, 54, said key issues are “inept administrators squandering funds as well as squandering capable leadership within the staff.”

He said he hopes to address what he views as inadequate resources for classrooms, specifically in regard to special education.

Fairbanks, 30, did not return a reporter’s request for information.