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School district to host community meeting
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| April 17, 2011 |
In an effort to quell rumors and innuendo
surround the upcoming Boundary County School
District 101 maintenance and operations levy,
school board members, school administrators and
local elected officials and community leaders
will host a community meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 21, in the Becker Auditorium.
"We're expecting tough questions," school board
chair Melanie Staples said at a planning meeting
held last week, "and we'll have answers. Another
failure will have a domino effect in all areas
of our county. We will use this meeting to
provide extensive information, and to clarify
facts versus myths."
The first levy failed by a margin of 158 votes
when it was run March 8. Under Idaho Code,
the school board can re-run the levy, but the
May 17 election may be the last time the levy
before the district has to begin
implementing draconian cuts in time to develop
next year's school budget.
At stake are all the school's extracurricular
programs, including sports, drama, music, art,
languages, honor society and more ... programs
that, for the majority of students, provide the
impetus to knuckle down to the core subjects;
math, science, English. And, for most of those
students who go on to achieve great things, the
extracurricular programs are what gave them a
boost in going on to college through
scholarships.
They don't give out many for math, English or
science.
Times are tough for all of us, but many in the
community say that this is precisely the time to
support our school district, and the only way to
do that is by voting to approve the property
taxes that would fund the two year, $2.8-million
M&O levy.
"Economically, we're in a crisis," said
Panhandle Bank Bonners Ferry branch manager Dave
Walter, both at the planning meeting as well as
at Friday's chamber social. "If we want to see
our economy improve, we have to support our
public schools. That's one of the first things
businesses that want to invest in a community
look at. If we say we won't support our schools,
this place could very easily become a ghost
town."
Just like nearly every business in Boundary
County, the school district has undergone an
extended bout of belt tightening. Vacant
positions for teachers and staff have gone
unfilled, those who remain, recognizing how dire
the funding situation is, have agreed to pay
cuts. Teachers in the classroom make do with the
textbooks they have.
That's why some of the rumors that come back to
the board are so frustrating, particularly as
regards superintendent Dr. Don Bartling, who is
retiring. Reports of his six-figure salary and
"golden parachute" retirement package, Staples
said, are just that, rumors.
"I don't know where that's coming from, and I
certainly wish it were true," Dr. Bartling said.
"Unfortunately for me, that's not the case!"
Every teacher and other job lost within the
district, Walter said, exacerbates the
unemployment picture in Boundary County,
currently second highest in the state, and takes
away people who live and spend in our community.
Another misconception is that the number of
dollars Boundary County property owners pay for
funding our schools just keep going up and up
and up. In fact, since 2004, local taxpayer
funding has dropped by nearly half. The proposed
M&O levy going before voters May 17 might
increase property taxes slightly, but the amount
each property tax payer pays, if the levy
passes, will still be less than amounts levied
in the 23 years this community, most often
kicking and screaming, has supported the levy.
One of the concerns raised by those attending
the planning meeting was that events such as the
April 21 community meeting take place at our
schools.
"Right or wrong, people see it as the school
district putting people in places that are in
your comfort zone, not ours," County
Commissioner Dan Dinning said. "If you in the
district would step outside your comfort zone
and go to where the people are, like the
Porthill Mercantile, Good Grief, the Naples
Hostel or firehall, Three Mile or Moyie, I think
you'd get a better idea of what the people of
this community are thinking."
While time before the election is short, Staples
said she and other board members would be more
than happy to attend any local group event
interested in discussing the levy, and why its
passage is essential, both to our students and
our economy.
In fact, for the first time, the school district
is harnessing technology to allow anyone who
can't attend the April 21 community meeting to
follow it live via the internet;
www.boundarycountylive.com.
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