Fund shift try for colleges fails

Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, proposed to drain $7.4 million from a $25 million fund that’s been sitting for years for school districts that have unsafe schools and can’t pass bond issues to replace them. No one’s ever tapped the fund, but the Plummer-Worley School District has a pending request to the fund for $11.3 million. Ringo said the $7.4 million would go into the school budget, to offset federal stimulus funds that earlier were shifted from higher ed to public schools; that would allow state colleges and universities to get that money back. However, her motion failed on a 15-4 party-line vote.