LPOSD considering potential cuts

SANDPOINT —  Lake Pend Oreille School District trustees will spend the next few weeks figuring out how to cut potentially more than $2 million from its 2010-11 budget without sacrificing staff, said Superintendent Dick Cvitanich.

The district is considering three options to save money.

They include closing Northside Elementary School, changing the district’s trustee zones on the heels of completion of Kootenai Elementary School or creating a central kindergarten at Kootenai, which would include children from Kootenai, Northside, Farmin-Stidwell and Washington school zones.

The Northside option has parents in that area very concerned, said PTO member Mel Davis.

Northside has the kind of country school where teachers and staff are very interested and invested in the well-being of the students, she said.

The school went so far as to install a washer and dryer on site, recognizing that many children live in poverty, Davis said.

“It really takes care of children,” she said. “Excellence in education is not just a motto here,” she said.

It is a school that not only has a strong PTO, but it includes a supportive community that is heavily involved in its goings-on. Some people have attended the school’s annual harvest dinner for the past 50 years, Davis said.

But until Northside PTO members hear what district officials have to say about the three options, the group is being careful with its comments, she said.

Cvitanich will meet with Northside parents at 6 p.m. Thursday at the school to discuss the options and listen to their concerns.

“I think there’s a lot of nervousness out there. They (Northside) parents) love their school,” he said. “We want parents to all feel that way.”

But the reality is the Idaho Legislature, which is now in session, is talking about cutting education funding, Cvitanich said. It is possible that for the first time, the Legislature will cut public school funding.

Idaho Suerintendent of Schools Tom Luna has proposed taking a one-time distribution of $52.8 million for the endowment lands reserve fund.

The school board also hold a workshop to discuss the three options at a special meeting at 6 p.m., Feb. 17, at Kootenai Elementary School.