PRIEST RIVER — In West Bonner County School District’s first board meeting after the passage of a two-year, $2.35 million-per-year maintenance and operation levy in Tuesday’s election, trustees described a sense of relief and began discussing plans for the coming years. 

While the guarantee of levy dollars will fortify the district’s immediate financial standing, trustees noted that unless Idaho’s education funding structure changes, the WBCSD will likely be pursuing a new levy when the current one expires.

During the meeting, Superintendent Kim Spacek told attendees that prior to the election, he met with district administrators and told them that if the levy failed, they would be required to meet at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday with cuts from their respective departments in hand. 

Because the measure prevailed, no such gathering was necessary; district staff shared during the Wednesday board meeting that they are moving forward on a final 2025-26 budget, along with initiatives to replace the roof and asphalt at Priest River Lamanna High School. 

Trustees emphasized the need for district staff and officials to work hard in the coming years to turn levy dollars into a valuable education for students. 

“We have a great plan, but our work isn't done yet,” said Trustee Paul Turco. “The enemy of great is good, and if we stop and be satisfied with good, we're not going to get to great.” 

Trustee Kathy Nash noted that with the community’s recent endorsement comes a responsibility to prove that the district can manage levy dollars responsibly. 

“They're giving us the opportunity to prove that we are changing direction,” she said. 

Leading up to the election, district personnel repeatedly indicated that a failure of their levy measure would likely force them to close the outlying Priest Lake and Idaho Hill elementary schools for the upcoming school year. To strengthen the long-term viability of Priest Lake Elementary, Trustee Margaret Hall, who represents the Priest Lake area on the board, suggested assembling a task force comprising district officials and school administrators dedicated to ensuring the school continues operating and determining “how we might move forward so we're not using one school against another school and one community against another community.” 

Trustees Delbert Pound and Paul Turco replied that it may be more prudent to launch a district-wide initiative instead. 

“If we're doing a task force for one group, we’re only setting ourselves up for further division,” Turco said. 

Hall replied by noting that Priest Lake Elementary is more than 20 miles from any other school in the district and that due to the district’s rural nature, some of its schools serve distinct communities. 

“Trying to do it all together, I think you're not looking at the uniqueness of each community,” she said. 

The board chose to table the proposal until its June meeting. 

At the tail end of the meeting, trustees found common ground on one matter, sharing that they believe that Idaho’s system for funding public education — one in which it’s a common practice for districts to ask local voters to approve property tax levies on a regular basis — is flawed. 

“My biggest reflection is that this is no way to fund public education,” Hall said. 

Hall proposed a summer collaboration with Boundary County School District’s leaders to formulate a resolution that would alter state funding practices and submit it to the Idaho School Boards Association to potentially go on to be considered by legislators. 

Nash expressed support for the initiative and emphasized that trustees, staff and residents should not let the temporary reprieve of the levy prevent them from voicing their dissatisfaction with the state of the system. 

“I think we need to just keep pressing forward and bringing it to the state,” Nash said.