HAYDEN- The majority has spoken, even though it was just one voter.

The Coeur d'Alene School District will annex the 38-unit Gianna Estates subdivision, which lies just west of Balser Estates on the southwest corner of Atlas Road and Hayden Avenue.

According to Kootenai County Elections Manager Carrie Phillips, there are only two registered voters who were eligible to vote on the annexation.

"The developer wants to be able to sell the property as being in the Coeur d'Alene School District," she said.

Nathaniel Grossglauser, who is out of town this week, cast an absentee ballot, but couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

His father, Bob Grossglauser, said he started the Gianna Estates subdivision which recently was sold to Viking Construction. However, his son lives in a house on the property. Grossglauser was surprised his son's vote was the only one cast.

"I don't know why people don't get more involved, but I think this was a good thing," he said.

Grossglauser said before the annexation, school kids living west of Atlas Road had to be bused to Lakeland School District when Coeur d'Alene's Atlas Elementary is less than a five-minute walk away.

"It just doesn't make sense to bus kids 20 miles when we have a school right across the street," he said. "Nate has a 3-year-old daughter, and I know he doesn't want to bus her to Rathdrum."

Coeur d'Alene School Board Chair Christa Hazel said the annexation made a lot of sense.

"It's a small subdivision within eyesight of Atlas Elementary," she said, adding the impact will be minimal on the school.

In fact, Lynn Towne, clerk of the board, said there are currently no school-aged children in the subdivision.

"I think there are only two houses built out there now," Towne said, adding the property is earmarked for development.

Towne said another development has asked to be annexed as well. West Landings, which is located near the intersection of Prairie Avenue and Huetter Road, has requested to be annexed into the Coeur d'Alene School District.

Currently, Towne said, half of the school-aged children in that development are in the Coeur d'Alene School District and the other half are in the Post Falls School District.

"It's hard to determine the exact number of students this would affect," Towne said. "But we believe it could be 100 or more students."

Hazel said the district was not able to get the West Landings annexation on the May ballot, or the August ballot, but it will appear on the November general election ballot.

While that annexation is much more substantial than the Gianna Estates annexation, there is no way to tell how many more students will be going to Coeur d'Alene schools.

"We already have a lot of those students opting into our district," Hazel said, adding that could be as many as 80 students - and if that annexation goes through, some of the Post Falls students may opt to stay in the Post Falls District.

The process to get annexed into a neighboring school district can take some time, Hazel said.

First the school board has to approve the annexation, then the state has to approve of the annexation and then a simple majority of the voters must approve it.