West Bonner predicts largely flat budget, as past-due audits remain unfinished

West Bonner School District leaders are predicting a largely flat budget for the upcoming school year as the district works to complete financial audits dating back to 2024.

The district serves just under 1,000 students in Priest River and surrounding areas.

The backed-up audits stem from controversy in the district dating back to 2023, when the school board hired former state legislator Branden Durst as superintendent.

Durst left the district in September 2023 after the State Board of Education’s decision to reject Durst’s request for an emergency superintendent certification, a condition of his West Bonner contract. He then sued the district in 2024. The case was settled in January.

During his brief tenure, Durst recommended and the school board approved a forensic audit following concerns of financial improprieties after a period of leadership turnover before his hiring. 

The audit approval occurred at a tense school board meeting during a recall against three trustees over the hiring of Durst. The audit, which reviewed district finances from 2018 to 2023, found no financial misconduct issues when it was completed in 2024.

But it took the district years to complete the subsequent 2023 fiscal year audit, with four business managers overseeing district finances since 2021.

The Idaho Department of Education began withholding payments to West Bonner in 2023.

• November 15, 2023: IDE withheld a payment because the 2023 audit wasn’t received on time. The payment was made in full in February 2024 after a hardship waiver was received from then-Interim Superintendent Joe Kren.

• November 15, 2024: IDE withheld a payment because the 2024 audit wasn’t received on time. The district received 90% of the payment in February 2025 after a hardship waiver was submitted.

• November 15, 2025: IDE withheld the full payment after the 2025 audit wasn’t received on time.

In total, $1.85 million has been withheld from West Bonner.

The district did not apply for a hardship exemption this year because they didn’t know it was an option, Superintendent Kim Spacek said.

Unspent funds from a previous levy carried the district through this school year without the payment, Spacek said.

The 2024 audit should be done at the end of June. Hayden Ross, the district’s accounting firm, will then start on the 2025 fiscal year audit. That means the 2026 fiscal year audit won’t be completed by the November 10 deadline, he said.

The state will send the district the withheld funds once the related audits are received, said Maggie Reynolds, a public information officer with IDE.

District budget remains largely flat

At the district’s budget hearing last week, business manager Kendra Salesky predicted a slight drop in enrollment from 1,044 students this year to 993 next year.

The district’s average daily attendance in 87%. Salesky noted that increasing attendance just 3 percentage points would bring in about $230,000 in additional state revenue.

Ultimately, the district’s budget is largely the same as last year, she said. The district will lose one position through attrition next year, she said. Otherwise, increases to the budget are largely due to rising insurance costs, an issue districts statewide face.

But the future isn’t quite as rosy.

Salesky predicts a continued drop in enrollment for both 2027 and 2028, which would require cutting about five teaching positions and no raises for staff who stay. The district could make up the difference by increasing its levy ask, she noted.

The district also opened a virtual school last year and plans to look at other programs to retain students, she and trustees said.

Trustees are set to approve the proposed budget at their board meeting Wednesday night.

See the district’s budget presentation here. Watch past and future board meetings here.