District mulls post-levy possibilities

PONDERAY — A portion of the Lake Pend Oreille School District's meeting Tuesday night revolved around a discussion over the failed $55.1 million plant facilities levy.

"The best of intentions didn't line up with the kind of results that we wanted," said LPOSD Superintendent Shawn Woodward, adding that when results don't line up with expectations, there is a lot to be learned from the process as to what can be done different in the future.

At the polls Aug. 30, with ballots cast by just over 50 percent of the district's registered voters, the levy garnered 2,953 yes votes — or 34.96 percent — and 5,493 no votes — or 65.02 percent.

During Tuesday's meeting, each of the school board trustees discussed some of the issues their constituents relayed to them individually. It came down to the conclusion that $55.1 million was too much all at once.

"It was too big a chunk to bite off," said trustee Joan Fish, adding the people she spoke with in the community said they would rather see one project at a time. "It's just too much. It's not that they are not supportive."

The school board's newest trustee, Matt Mire, said if LPOSD does "tackle" the projects in smaller portions, there is still a need to address what that will look like over time. If the school district runs a $10 million levy for three years, for example, he said they would have to run another one after that.

Some other issues the trustees heard from the public included more public discussion prior to a levy proposal, and also to include Lake Pend Oreille High School in future discussions of a plant facilities levy.

Trustee and board vice chair Geraldine Lewis suggested a community workshop where everyone could be invited to have a discussion with the members of the school board.

"Workshop means if you're going to have dialogue with the public, it's a dialogue, as opposed to the board meeting in public and doing its business," said board chairman Steve Youngdahl. "This is different. This is where the board meets with the public and then there is discourse.

A community workshop should be scheduled right away, Youngdahl said, because it is important to gather "as much information as possible while everybody's memories are fresh."

Youngdahl said pushing a levy on a deadline should not be as important as "getting it right." He said the most important thing is to get an accurate understanding of the public feelings about the levy and formulate a solid plan with that information rather than "being in a rush." And, he said, they do not want to forget about LPOHS.

Woodward said he and Lisa Hals, the district's chief financial and operations officer, have been in talks with an outside firm to help the district develop a tool, using a scientific method to gather reliable data from the entire community.

"We do not want to move forward without ensuring we have heard from a good percentage of community members," Woodward said. "Oftentimes, we hear from eight to 10 people who show up to meetings."

Woodward said there a draft survey should be complete by the next LPOSD meeting on Sept. 27 for the board to review and discuss. Around the end of October the board will begin discussing the next supplemental levy, which he said is a process they may want to "mimic" when they move forward with another plant facilities levy.