PRIEST RIVER — The Priest River Education Program started in August 2000 to offer students an alternative high school option.

However, as enrollment numbers continue to decline, West Bonner County School District officials said they are looking at closing the doors on the PREP school.

"For various reasons, this is a hard and emotional decision, but due to a lack of students the decision has been made to recommend the closure of this school for next year," WBCSD Superintendent Paul Anselmo said in an email.

Anselmo said 10 students were enrolled for the 2017-2018 school year, with three graduates. He said the projection for enrollment next year is seven students.

"These numbers are really low," Anselmo said. "There are so many online options that students aren’t coming to our alternative school anymore. This is a trend for these types of programs now."

In addition to online options, Anselmo said Priest River Lamanna High School offers a credit recovery program as an option for students who need to make up credits.

Prior to the opening of the PREP school in 2000, Priest River students were bused to Lake Pend Oreille High School in Sandpoint if they chose to go to an alternative school. The Bonner County School District was split into two districts in July 1999, culminating in the creation of the PREP school. The alternative school offered a local option for students that offers individualized instruction and small group classes.

According to the website, alt-wbcsd-id.schoolloop.com, the alternative program provides all the courses needed for a regular high school diploma. Examples of the school's practices, according to the website, include teaching English for employment skills, such as writing a letter of application, resumes, interviewing techniques, and more. Consumer or business math is included in the math curriculum. 

The program accepts up to 36 students, though, as mentioned, enrollment is much lower than the allotted amount.

The proposed closing of the PREP school will be on the agenda for next WBCSD meeting at 6 p.m. June 20.

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