PRIEST RIVER — The West Bonner County School District will interview two candidates so far who have applied for its vacant Zone 5 seat.

The board is slated to interview the two candidates, Roger Berry and Kathy Nash, at its next meeting on March 18. The meeting will start at 6 p.m. at the WBCSD Administrative Office, 134 Main St., Priest River.

Berry, 67, is a retired operations manager for a transportation company. He decided to apply for the vacant seat after taking to a friend and realizing it matched his interest in helping local students get a good education.

While there are things dictated by state law, Berry said he believes he would enjoy helping shape the budget and helping the school district’s students get a good education.

“I’m for whatever is good for the kids,” he told The Daily Bee. “I’ve taken an interest in what’s going on.”

Born into an agriculture family, Berry said he’s an “ordinary person” who just wants to help out.

“I look forward to helping the kids and the school district move forward and solve problems,” Berry said if he’s picked for the post.

Kathy Nash was unavailable for comment.

The board declared the seat vacant at its Jan. 15 meeting and announced it is seeking qualified individual to serve on the board.

Anyone residing within the zone boundaries that has a genuine interest in the education of the district’s children should submit an application, WBCSD officials said in a press release.

Applications should be sent to WBCSD clerk Jennifer Anselmo, 134 Main St., Priest River, ID 83856.

If you have any questions, contact Anselmo at 208-448-4439, ext. 3.

Per state code it will be opened up for 90 days to anyone within the zone who is interested. If nobody within the zone comes forward in that time, it will be opened up to every zone within the district. At that point, anybody from any zone could be appointed by the board. If nobody is appointed within 120 days, the appointment of a trustee would fall to the county commissioners.

That launched a series of questions, which led to an effort to clarify which map was the right one for voters and candidates, Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale said after the matter came to light. County officials corresponded with the school district about what they’d found and when their attorney made a notice of appearance, the county’s attorneys were forced to make theirs.

“The whole point was to clarify which map was ‘legally’ the correct map per Idaho Code on which to run the election and seat the trustees so there would be certainty for the voting public,” Rosedale said at the time. “It was far too late to change our elections mapping for the November election, which is why we asked a judge to render a declaratory judgment on the proper map to use.

Rosedale said there was no ill intent by anyone at the county or the school district. “The court action was done to avoid the otherwise inevitable chaos that would have ensued,” he added. “I believe both parties were served by the court making a decision, and certainly the voters had a level of certainty with which to proceed.”

It was the duty of both county and school district officials to sort out such situations, Rosedale said.

First District Judge Lansing Haynes ruled Jan. 6 that school district’s map and legal description were the ones to be used to determine whether an elected candidate was qualified to be seated.

District officials said in December that the controversy over the map and resulting confusion over Sudick’s election was tough for everyone.

Sudick, a former county commissioner, was the sole candidate for the seat currently held by Samuel “Ranger Rick” Hall, who opted to not run for re-election. Also in the Nov. election, Zone 3 candidate Troy Reinbold defeated incumbent Bruce Hollett, and Zone 1 incumbent Margaret Hall defeated her opponent Lesa Souza. Hall and Reinbold will be sworn in at the Jan. 15 meeting.

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.