Organizers of a new skills training and vocational rehabilitation program for North Idaho adults responded Friday to concerns that there may be a religious component in their program offered at Kootenai Technical Education Campus, a public professional-technical high school in Rathdrum.

Christa Hazel, vice-chair of the Coeur d'Alene School District Board of Trustees, said she received several inquiries about the North Idaho Training and Rehab Organization program, referred to as "NITRO." She said most of the concerns involved the description of the program as "faith-based." The term, generally applied to programs affiliated with religious groups, was used by NITRO organizers to describe the program during an event held Thursday at KTEC.

"As a trustee, I too had questions," Hazel said.

KTEC is a cooperative service agency created by the Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland public school districts. It offers professional-technical programs to students from those districts.

Hazel said her own concerns about the program being referred to as "faith-based" were satisfied when she contacted Ron Nilson, CEO of Ground Force Worldwide in Post Falls, a KTEC founding board member and a NITRO organizer.

"I am pleased to learn that KTEC is receiving lease fees for the building's usage," Hazel told The Press. "I'm thrilled to hear that our economic forecast includes the ability to provide a job market to KTEC students plus NITRO students, so these two programs should not be competing with one another."

Jerry Keane, Post Falls school superintendent and chairman of the KTEC Governing Board, said the board unanimously approved NITRO to be held at the facility, but neither Keane, nor Coeur d'Alene Superintendent Matt Handelman, another KTEC board member, were aware of the program's "faith-based" designation.

"The term 'faith-based' program was not used in KTEC discussions, but we did discuss the character development aspect of the program that included the idea that the participants had faith in themselves as it relates to finishing the program and turning their lives around," Keane wrote in an email to The Press.

Nilson and Frank Genetti, who oversees the "character-building" aspect of NITRO, said "faith," as it applies to the program, is a broad term and not intended to be in the traditional religious sense.

The NITRO organizers said anyone, regardless of religious belief or non-belief, can apply for the program as long as they need rehabilitation and have a desire to succeed.

"I could care less what somebody's (religious) faith is. If they have a good attitude, all a lot of these students need is faith in themselves and self-esteem to be a productive member of society," Genetti said.

Nilson said organizers knew the program might raise some questions about the division of church and state or discrimination, so they've been diligent about the laws.

"We don't discriminate against anyone for race, color, creed or sex," Nilson said. "If we were discriminating, why would ex-criminals or ex-cons be a part of the program? Screening is very simple - a commitment to attend classes and finishing this program. They also need to have a desire to turn their lives around. This is not about a religious faith, but faith in themselves."

Tom Hearn, chair of the Coeur d'Alene school board and a retired mental health counselor and social worker, said having worked with adult felons for most of his professional career, he would personally support any program that helps rehabilitate these individuals. Hearn said he cannot speak for the board.

"The only concerns I would have about this program are that adult felons not be in school with the other students, and that Coeur d'Alene School District money not be used to support the program, because public school money cannot be used to support faith-based programs," Hearn told The Press.

Laura Rumpler, spokeswoman for the Coeur d'Alene School District, told The Press that the NITRO students are at KTEC in the evenings and there is no overlap or interaction with the KTEC high school students.

NITRO leases the use of the KTEC facility and equipment from the school districts for $150 per hour per student. That money comes from state of Idaho training dollars for vocational and rehabilitation programs.

Genetti said the money to pay NITRO teachers, some who work at KTEC, comes from private donations, not taxpayer dollars.

Keane said he was not aware that NITRO was anything more than a traditional vocational rehabilitation program with a character development component, so he wants to explore the program to ensure it complies with the law.

"We will also need to find out how state funds can be used for such a project as well," Keane said.

Many school districts, including Post Falls, have rented or leased buildings to religious groups in the past, he said.

NITRO's first class, a group receiving its welding certifications, graduates today.