Applicants sought for WBCSD seat

PRIEST RIVER — A vacancy has been declared for the West Bonner County School District Zone 5 seat.

The board declared seat vacant at its Jan. 15 meeting and announced it is seeking qualified individual to serve on the board

Anyone residing within the zone boundaries that has a genuine interest in the education of the district’s children should submit an application, WBCSD officials said in a press release.

Applications should be sent to WBCSD clerk Jennifer Anselmo, 134 Main St., Priest River, ID 83856.

If you have any questions, contact board clerk 208-448-4439, ext. 3.

Per state code it will be opened up for 90 days to anyone within the zone who is interested. If nobody within the zone comes forward in that time, it will be opened up to every zone within the district. At that point, anybody from any zone could be appointed by the board. If nobody is appointed within 120 days, the appointment of a trustee would fall to the county commissioners.

The vacancy follows confusion over emerged in September, after the school district’s election was already underway when two candidates — Sudick and Lesa Souza — filed paperwork for the trustee zones they believed they lived in, based on the maps and legal descriptions the county had on record.

First District Judge Lansing Haynes ruled Jan. 6 that school district’s map and legal description were the ones to be used to determine whether an elected candidate was qualified to be seated.