SANDPOINT — After 11 years of service, Lake Pend Oreille School District trustee Vickie Pfeifer removed her name plate from the board table.

 The school board honored Pfeifer for her service at the reconstituting of the board Tuesday evening, highlighting her role in transforming the district from a financially troubled institution into one of Idaho’s top performers. According to Pfeifer, the experience involved a lot of hard work, but she’s also taking many fond memories home with her.  

“Everybody says this is a thankless job, but I’ve actually been thanked many times over my time as a board member,” she said.

When Pfeifer first came on board in July of 2002, the district operated under a much different model from current operations. It was run with a business manager serving as the chief administrative figure, while the superintendent played a secondary role. Pfeifer said one of the biggest moments of her service came in 2004, when she and other board members determined to reorganize the district under a more traditional model.

“There was a lot of turnover in personnel around that time,” she said.

The data supports the effectiveness of that decision.

When Pfeifer first joined the board, the district had just over $500,000 in the general fund balance. Eleven years later, it maintains a general fund of $3.4 million. In addition, scores on the Idaho Reading Indicator have improved 47 percent, while scores in the Idaho Standards Achievement Test jumped 31 percent in math and 15 percent in language.

Since 2004, Pfeifer said she charted some of her proudest accomplishments. Chief among them, she said, was the selection of three effective, well-qualified superintendents. The transition began with Mark Berryhill, followed by Dick Cvitanich and Shawn Woodward.

Following the graduation of her youngest child from the district, Pfeifer decided to step down as a trustee. The decision was partially based on the time commitment, especially after taking on a fulltime job. However, she’ll miss being a representative of the school district to the community.

“I’m really going to miss interacting with the people on the board as well as all the stakeholders and community members,” she said.

Even so, Pfeifer is satisfied with her work over years of service. She said she’s able to step down in high spirits knowing the district is in better condition than when she came on board.

“I think we’re in really good shape,” she said. “We’ve got a great board and a great superintendent.”