Second time a charm for school levy
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| Newly-elected School District 101 Zone 4 trustee David Brinkman and his wife, Melinda. |
In all, 3,033 voters turned out, with 1,702 casting their ballots in favor of the levy to 1,331 voting no, a margin of 56-percent to 44-percent. Brinkman won his seat with 307 votes compared to 242 for incumbent Sulet Hiatt, and Staples retained her seat with 266 votes to challenger Paul Shelton's 219.
In March, 2,128 voters turned out to vote solely on the M&O, which was defeated by a vote of 1,143 no votes to 985 in favor, with only three precincts, Naples, North Bonners Ferry and Valley View, approving the measure. This Tuesday, the measure passed in five of seven precincts.
"I'm excited," said retiring superintendent Dr. Don Bartling. "This is just tremendous for the kids and the school. I'm just thrilled. We still have a lot of work to do, but I didn't want to retire without this flag. I am so relieved."
This time around, the measure passed in the Bonners Ferry precinct, 94-62, where it failed 47-60 in March; the Kootenai precinct 181-144, where it fell 110-115 last time; the North Bonners Ferry precinct 380-208, strengthening a March vote in favor, 228-161; the Naples precinct, 283-194, where it passed by a 169-144 vote in March; and the Valley View precinct, 295-150, compared to 197-143 in March.
The race tightened this time around in both the Copeland and the Moyie Springs precincts, with Copeland voters casting 129 votes in favor to 186 against, compared to 65 in favor to 149 opposed in March, and Moyie Springs voters casting 340 votes in favor this Tuesday to 387 against, as compared to 169 in favor to 351 against in March.
In the zone 3 trustee's race, Brinkman garnered 156 votes in the Kootenai precinct, 31 in the North Bonners Ferry precinct, three in the Naples precinct and 117 in the Valley View precinct to Hiatt's 116, 21, 1 and 104, respectively.
In the zone 4 race, Staples claimed 58 votes in the Bonners Ferry precinct, 158 in the North Bonners Ferry precinct and 50 in the Valley View precinct to Shelton's 50, 104 and 65, respectively.
Bartling had nothing but good things to say about all four trustee candidates, but especially for the two he's worked with as his retirement draws near, Sulet Hiatt, who has been on the board for two years, and Melanie Staples, who is currently board chair after serving eight years on the board.
"They are both wonderful ladies, and they've given a lot to this school district," he said. "I congratulate Mr. Brinkman, and I thank Mr. Shelton for his willingness to serve the people of this community. Being a school board trustee is not an easy job, and the pay, or lack thereof, is isn't nearly enough for the hours they spend doing the work of the district or for the complexity these positions entail. I think it says a lot about this community to have such qualified and dedicated people step up and face the challenges of an election for positions that are entirely voluntary."
In fact, he said, the school board, which will now be Gil Hagen, Tim Bertling, Brinkman, Staples and Lisa Dirks, have many challenges ahead.
"We still have to balance the budget, and despite the levy, we are still facing significant cuts," Bartling said. "We have to consider significant new legislation and how it's going to affect our district. We still have hard decisions to make."
They're also going to have to face the retirement of the district's longest serving superintendent June 30, as Dr. Bartling ends ten years as head of the district, a time that saw both the construction of a new high school and the advent of an exciting new magnet school program at Naples Elementrary, combined with a multi-year decline in state and federal funding for public schools and the closure of Evergreen Elementary, and the transition to a new man at the helm, Idaho native Richard Conley, who grew up in Emmett, earned degrees, including his Masters, from Boise State and the University of Idaho and who has spent more than 20 years teaching and overseeing, most often rural schools and rural districts, in both Idaho and Washington State.
While today's election was exciting, still more excitement lies ahead.