BONNERS FERRY — Work is progressing on the new Valley View Elementary, Boundary County School District officials learned Monday.

"They're rocking and rolling over at Valley View," Boundary County School District Superintendent Jan Bayer told school board trustees. "It's really exciting. Our offices are sharking and we said we'll take all those shakes."

The city is requiring the district to add a third fire hydrant, and those adjusted plans have been turned in to the state.

Of the state's 170-plus school districts and charters, Bayer told board trustees that the Boundary County School District is among the 28 highest-performing school districts. Those districts have achieved 5% growth or more in the past three to five years, the superintendent told trustees.

Among the district's areas of focus for improvement was math, which saw first graders achieve 96% proficiency, followed by kindergartners at 89% and third graders at 81%. Second graders achieved 74%, fourth graders 71%, and fifth graders were at 69%.

"We're either equal or outperforming the state on every assessment," Bayer said.

Bayer said the math scores are a result of a team effort, from district staff doing an exceptional job to administration observing classrooms and working to replicate successful strategies.

Middle school math scores also improved, with the "highest math scores I think we've ever had," Bayer said, noting the scores all met at least 20% growth.

"They're really focusing on visible learning, having kids read the content, talk about the content, show their content on whiteboards; there are whiteboards all the way around their room," she added. "They're working collaboratively, and they're talking about it, and we're seeing them. That's a big focus of the state, is to close that gap between fourth and eighth grade, and we are doing it, so it's super exciting."

Attendance is also part of the equation, with Bayer noting the district's goal is 95% attendance. The latest data shows the district had roughly 93% attendance.

"If you're online, you're participating in your lessons, you're turning assignments in and you're meeting those standards," Bayer said.

Bayer said the district is also hitting its fiscal goals with a 5% contingency fund, with $1.6 million in unappropriated funds and $600,000 in forest funds. It is important for the district to maintain that $600,000. The superintendent noted that the Boundary County Middle School gym still has its original heating system from the 1970s, and it could cost $450,000 to replace the system.

"It would be advantageous of us if we don't use all those funds," Bayer said. "We don't have to use all those funds on the CTE shop expansion or on Valley View. We do really need to replace that heating system because this building has to last us another 25 to 30 years and we don't want it going down in the middle of wintertime."

Board trustees also talked about digital literacy and state testing, including testing of math at the end of students' junior years.

"The high school test does not align at all because they don't have to take math their junior in high school so they're taking a summative assessment their end of their junior year without having math and without having that level of math," Bayer said.

Discussion at recent state conferences also included training for phonics and dyslexia, how to support students needing reading intervention and other "smart training," trustees said.

In other business, Zone 3 trustee Mike Ferguson resigned his post. The district is accepting letters of interest for the position, which has roughly 17 months left. Applications must be submitted by July 2, and residents interested must reside in Zone 3.

Also, the board discussed staffing for the coming school year, including teaching, coaching and support staff.