CSD to reopen old Hayden School

The Coeur d’Alene School District will reopen a shuttered, 80-year-old elementary school next year to relieve crowding on the fast-growing north end of the district. But an educational emphasis for the school remains up in the air.

The school board voted 3-2 Monday night to again operate Hayden Lake Elementary School as an attendance zone school starting in fall 2017.

It’s the first step in adding classrooms to serve new housing developments springing up on the northwest end of Coeur d’Alene. District leaders also are considering asking voters to approve a bond measure to build another elementary school on the northwest end.

But after a messy series of votes, the board was unable to pick a “program of emphasis” for Hayden Lake. The district’s other 10 elementary schools include a magnet school of science, a magnet school of the arts and humanities, and a STEM Academy emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math.

Trustee Tambra Pickford said she’d like the school itself to choose its focus. But with no staff hired yet, and without families knowing what the school’s specialty will be, the timing could be problematic, trustee Christa Hazel said/Scott Maben, SR. More here (subscription).

Question: Do you agree/disagree with this decision?