PRIEST RIVER — West Bonner County School District's facilities committee is meeting today, Aug. 14, in the Priest River Lamanna High School cafeteria.

The meeting is set to begin at 6 p.m.

Among the items on the agenda are project updates, summer custodial and information related to House Bill 521 and the district's facility condition assessments and a 10-year master plan update.

Also on the agenda is an update to the one-year building closure of Priest River Junior High. 

West Bonner board trustees voted in early June to close the junior high for one year as part of an effort to address the district's ongoing financial issues. Under the plan, the district voted to keep all three of its elementary schools open with students from kindergarten through sixth-grade students at Idaho Hill, Priest Lake, and Priest River elementary schools. Seventh and eighth-grade students would go to the high school, with the younger students segregated from the high school students.

At the time, PRLHS principal Matt George said the plan would, in essence, create a "school within a school" would be created with younger students housed at the far end of the high school. While there would be some carryover with the ninth-grade students, it would be minimal, with part of it created by the art room located at that end of the building. 

The district is facing a tight budget for the upcoming school year after a $4.68 million supplemental levy was rejected by voters in May. The board has discussed possibly running a levy in May; however, no decision was made on the matter, the amount of any potential levy, or the length of time it would run.

The deadline for submitting a November ballot question is Sept. 6. If the board wants to ask voters to pass a levy this election season, it will need to bring forth and approve a ballot resolution at its last regular meeting Aug. 21 or schedule a special meeting before Sept. 6.

The Aug. 21 meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Priest River Lamanna High School cafeteria, 596 Highway 57, and livestreamed on the district’s Facebook page.