LPOSD voters approve supplemental levy

SANDPOINT — After a full court press by Lake Pend Oreille School District officials, the game is finally over. Who won or lost is a matter of opinion, but in the end it’s the score that matters.

In this case, district voters cast a majority of their ballots — 3,497 to 1,515, or 70 percent — in favor in of the district’s two-year, $15,767,484 replacement supplemental levy, according to results from the Bonner County Elections Office.

“I’ve been sitting around here hitting refresh about every three seconds,” said LPOSD Superintendent Shawn Woodward, as he monitored the levy results.

The news, although officially preliminary, is good for the district’s 3,500-plus students and 550 employees. A passing levy will continue to fund fully a third of the district’s curriculum materials, as well as sports and extracurricular activities through the end of the 2016-2017 school year.

The levy passed in every precinct but one: Cocollala rejected the levy 55 in favor and 67 against in a 30.6-percent voter turnout.

At 43.7 percent, the Washington precinct passed with the highest turnout, and 449 to 79 favorable result.

Woodward was clearly happy with the initial returns, and even expressed a sense of growing optimism.

“I’d love to see an improvement in all of those precincts,” he said by phone.

“The neatest thing is if we have more voters than two years ago,” he said. “It will mean there is more confidence in the school system.”  

A variety of metrics indicate the district has shown significant results in student achievement. Ten of the districts 11 schools are four- or five-star schools, as rated by the state of Idaho, and has some of the highest Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, scores in the state among schools of similar size. U.S. News and World Report rated the district seventh in the state overall, putting it above the Idaho state average in college readiness, math and reading.

Overall, 29.56 percent of registered voters turned out to vote.

West Bonner County School District’s levy also passed, according to the county election office.

The vote count is not considered official it receives the blessing of Bonner County commissioners on March 20.