Alternatives sought for CF schools

SANDPOINT — The recent closure of hot meal programs at Clark Fork Junior and Senior High is only one symptom of efforts by the Lake Pend Oreille School District to keep the rural school afloat for are students.

“We’re just trying to keep the school open,” Superinten-dent Shawn Woodward said Tuesday after a lengthy school board meeting.

Among other things, the school is facing enrollment and staffing challenges. There are 19 classes with 10 or less students; 14 have less than five students, Woodward said. Enrollment has dropped nearly 40 percent in the past nine years.

“Right now we don’t have the money to operate at that level in the school district,” Woodward said.

Clark Fork has been spared from the staffing adjustments that other schools in the district have experienced.

“We realize that’s part of being in a rural district,” Woodward said. “You’re going to have some schools that are not very efficiently run from a fiscal standpoint.”

Geographically, the LPOSD is the largest school district in Idaho.

Is it becoming a problem keeping the school open? Staffing is a challenge, Woodward said, but it hasn’t been adjusted despite decreased enrollment.

“We’re not trying to purposely do things so the school won’t exist,” Woodward said. “We’re purposefully doing things to make it more fiscally viable, while at the same time doing no harm to kids.”

Woodward, an out-of-the-box administrator, said the district is considering some changes at Clark Fork, including schedule adjustments to accommodate larger class sizes. He noted that research suggests “education isn’t as rich” when class sizes get too small.

“Discourse suffers,” Woodward said. “It’s not the same as a class of 18 to 20.”

He credited the staff at Clark Fork, however, for their individual and collective efforts to create better learning opportunities for students.

The threat of changes has, he said, “opened some people’s minds up to new possibilities.”

An ongoing “experiential” learning pilot project at Farmin Stidwell Elementary has been widely embraced, Woodward said, a multi-aged program filled through an application process. A similar alternative for Clark Fork may help increase enrollment by attracting some part-time, home schooled kids. A dialogue with those families and other community members is ongoing.

“We would like to have a school out in Clark Fork, but we have to make some changes in order to make it a better option,” he said.

The district is ramping up for a levy vote March 10, when voters will decide on a two-year, $15,767,484 supplemental replacement levy that will continue to fund all district academic and athletic activities, all curriculum materials, and one-third of district staff salaries.

The levy is 50 percent below state averages, according to district information.