WBCSD board acknowledges open meeting law violation

By MARY MALONE

Staff writer

PRIEST RIVER — Board members of the West Bonner County School District approved a motion last week in "self recognition" of an open meeting law violation.

Board Chair Sandy Brower said the violation came in the form of a group email discussing the arming of teachers in schools. Brower said the email was initiated by an outside agency resulting in a board member responding in a group email.

"By no means was this a deliberate act," Brower said. "It was totally innocent, unintentional, but it did happen and we want to make sure that we are very transparent and any discussion that we have ... we want to have it in our open meeting where our constituents can get involved and listen."

In an email to the Daily Bee, Jennifer Anselmo, WBCSD business manager and board clerk, said the email chain started with an article titled “Virginia School Votes to Arm Staff." The discussion was mostly between one trustee and an outside person, she said, which is not against open meeting law. But the entire board was cc’d in the email, which does violate open meeting law. Any discussions between the entire school board must happen in an open meeting.

WBCSD Superintendent Paul Anselmo took the opportunity during the Aug. 22 meeting to talk about school safety and the proposed KISS initiative introduced by Sherri Ybarra, Idaho's superintendent of public instruction. KISS stands for Keep Idaho Students Safe. The key elements of the proposed initiative include a safety course required for teacher certification, a new statewide crisis communication counselor, and grants to help schools and districts provide trained security personnel.

"We'll see where it goes," Anselmo said. "It could allow some funding to get additional (school resource officers) into the schools."

The district currently has one SRO funded by the community through levy dollars, Anselmo said. In an effort to ensure school safety, Anselmo said the schools have a single point of entry with students, staff and visitors buzzed in and out of the buildings. The buildings also have new lock systems, he said, with the capability to put all of the schools into lockdown if needed.

Anselmo said Idaho is "not naive to the fact of school safety," and neither is the district. He met with a deputy from the Bonner County Sheriff's Office who said the district has some "good things" in place.

"So we are not turning a blind eye to school safety either," Anselmo said. "I feel like our district has done a lot for school safety and we will continue to be vigilant."

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.