At a meeting of the West Bonner County School District board Wednesday night, trustees voted to approve the resolution for a supplemental levy, approved the first reading of updated high school graduation requirements and updated their category 3 reopening plan.

The supplemental levy, which would have an annual estimated average of $3,820,276 per year for two years, would likely help pay for services including necessary facility projects and pay raises for staff, including 3% increase for classified staff, a 3.5% increase for certified staff, a $1,200 increase in admin salaries and a 2.6% increase for extracurricular siphons.

Those numbers are not certain, said board Chairman Sandy Brower, but an estimate based on the projected budget and other money that is expected to come in.

“I just wanted to make sure nobody hung their hat on that, because we don’t know,” she said.

For taxpayers, that levy would cost them $146.94 per $100,000 of taxable assesed property value, before exemptions.

However, many people in Idaho will qualify for exemptions, said Jennifer Anselmo, board clerk.

The way the levy is written, Anselmo said, taxpayers would not pay more than they already do.

“This last year,” said Vice Chairman Drew McLain, “I spent $140 on last year’s supplemental levy, and $185 on solid waste.”

The county clerk had also requested the board consider running the levy in May instead of March, Anselmo said, however, the board chose to run the levy in March for several reasons.

One of those, said superintendent Paul Anselmo, is that ensuring funding earlier in the year helps the district to retain staff.

“People go, ‘If we don’t pass this, do I have to start looking for another job?’ The answer is, I don’t know. If we have to cut 26% of our budget, nobody’s safe,” he said. “When we’ve done it in May, we’ve typically had a mass exodus of people. And you don’t blame somebody for looking out for their family.”

Paul Lamb, Priest River Lamanna High School principal, also spoke at the meeting to introduce the updated high school graduation requirements.

Currently, the high school has a six-period day that allows for 48 credits in four years of high school, where students can fail one semester of a class and still graduate on time.

“That’s not a lot of wiggle room for a student that struggles,” Lamb said.

In the updated plan, the school will move to an eight-period block schedule that allows students to earn 64 credits in their four years. The school will then up graduation requirements by three credits every year for the next three years to require a total of 56 credits to graduate.

The school will also add more clases, likely including a statistics class for upper-level math, two social studies credits including world history and one elective, and additional PE requirements.

Freshmen students will also be taught an introductory technology class, Lamb said, which will include instruction on using tools like Google Classroom and other necessary technological skills.

“Currently every single teacher in the high school is teaching a little bit of this course as it pertains to their class,” Lamb said.

In another major update to COVID-19 protocols, the board voted to updated their category 3 reopening plan, mirroring a move they made in early November to loosen reopening requirements after the first week of blended learning when Bonner County COVID-19 cases went to orange, or category 2.

Although the county has slipped well into the “red” category 3 with 439 active cases as of Thursday, the board voted bring all school children back in-person on Jan. 4, with all other category 3 requirements staying the same.

Many cases within the schools, Brower said, have been contracted by teachers outside of school and not students.

“The staff are contracting it,” she said. “Where I work, we’re not catching it at work. We’re catching it outside of work … we need to be responsible.”

Recently, two employees at Priest River Elementary tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 3, and had previously been in a meeting with other employees. Because of this, additional staff had to quarantine and the school had to shut down for several days.

Many people are scared, said Paul Anselmo, however, he said he believes it is in the best interest of students to keep them in schools.

Brower echoed this sentiment, saying that although students contracted the virus, the cases tended to be mild and there have been a limited number.

“The harm’s being done keeping them at home,” she said.

Board Trustee Margaret Hall asked if it might be possible to wait on the decision until after the holidays to see how pandemic numbers changeg. However, no meeting is scheduled until after school begins, and no motion was made for an emergency session.

Ultimately, the board approved the amended reopening plan. Trustee Troy Reinbold voted no. Hall, who voted last, ultimately voted in favor of the amendment.

“Yes…” she said. “With reservations.”

Lastly, the school board voted in favor of adopting a proposed plan for allowing some parents to attend sporting events should the plan be approved by Gov. Brad Little.

The plan is in the governor’s office, said Paul Anselmo, and had not been approved but likely would be in the future.

The plan would allow two spectators per athlete, and require masks and social distance of six feet or more could not be maintained.

Brower raised concerns over the possibility of attendants cheering and yelling, potentially increasing the risk of transmission, and issues with compliance.

The protocol, should it be adopted, would require the superintendent and chair of the board to sign an insurance agreement, Paul Anselmo said.

“It would require my signiture and Sandy’s,” he said. “There are some consequences of non-compliance.”

Brower said although she understood the struggle for parents as someone whose own children played in high school athletics, it is an unprecedented time.

“I’m going to be devil’s advocate,” she said. “Our health system that’s overrun right now — we cannot handle any more COVID. So just the idea of having a large group, I think it is irresponsible as a school district to do that.”

The board passed the motion to approve the sporting attendance plan, should it be passed by the governor, with Brower voting no and all others voting yes.