PONDERAY — Lake Pend Oreille School District’s board of trustees met Tuesday to hear updates from district staff and examine policy changes and proposals. 

Importantly, LPOSD took a step forward on major facilities projects the district began pursuing this year: the renovation of Sandpoint Middle School and the development of the Career Technical Education Center of North Idaho. 

The board voted to award an architectural services contract to Hayden-based LTA Architects to design and engineer the two projects, which have a combined estimated construction cost of more the $17 million. According to CFO Brian Wallace, six firms showed interest in taking on the projects after the district solicited bids in August. 

“For these particular projects, we thought LTA was the was the most qualified and the best fit,” Wallace told the board. He cited work the firm had previously done for LPOSD and its past work in Kootenai County, which includes a plan for rehabilitating Lakes Middle School and the design for Kootenai Technical Education Campus — a facility similar to LPOSD’s envisioned CTEC of North Idaho. 

“It was clear that that firm had some really good ideas on how to move forward with that building and similar types of work,” Wallace said.

The board also discussed a new policy — 2335 Health Enhancement Education — which was drafted in response to state legislation regulating sex education practices in public schools. 

The new policy states that any parent or legal guardian can have their child excused from sex education classes upon request, and that the instructor will provide an alternative assignment. It also dictates that “instruction in sex education shall include information on abstinence, available adoption resources, and current adoption practices in the United States as a means of providing for the well-being of a child.” 

Superintendent Dr. Becky Meyer told trustees that after reading the new law, she “cut back quite a bit” on the off-the-shelf policy language provided by the Idaho School Boards Association. 

“I felt like it had some things in it that did not pertain to the culture and climate in our area,” Meyer said. 

All trustees voted to implement the new policy, as well as to approve an amendment to existing policy 7260 Student Activity Fund that added language to support the use of district debit or credit cards for expenditures from the account. 

According to a timeline shared at a July board meeting, renovations to Sandpoint Middle School are scheduled to take place in 2025 and 2026. A precise timeline for the construction of CTEC of North Idaho has not been established. 

Trustees will meet next at 5 p.m. Nov. 12 at the district office, 365 Triangle Drive, Ponderay.