WBCSD hires new employees, sees hopeful results in reading indicator

PRIEST RIVER 一 The West Bonner County School District had a roughly 15% staff turnover in 2021, a slight increase from the average for levy years of around 12%, board Clerk Jennifer Anselmo told trustees at a meeting Wednesday.

That included 17 certified teachers leaving, including four re-hires in different positions, nine classified employees including three retirees, and two administrators, including Anselmo, who will be replaced by Steffie Pavey. Overall, the district had a roughly 20% turnover rate for teachers.

“It was a busy year of hiring,” said Superintendent Paul Anselmo.

Part of that turnover was likely due to anxieties over the district’s levy passing, Jennifer Anselmo said. WBCSD’s pay scale is also lower than many surrounding districts.

Also on Wednesday, trustees approved a negotiated agreement that included a 1% salary increase for classified staff to match a pay increase of .95% for certified staff.

“Just to put it in perspective,” Anselmo said, “Newport is paying at least roughly $10,000 [more] to start. Sandpoint caps out at about $76,000 a year … that’s [$11,000] or $12,000 higher than our salary scale.”

Despite challenges with hiring and a lower starting salary than some surrounding districts, WBCSD also saw Idaho reading indicator test results that beat out the state average, and in several cases surrounding districts.

In kindergarten, 68.3% of WBCSD students scored proficient or higher, compared to the state average of 61.3%. In first grade, it jumped to 68.3% compared to the state average of 61.3, Paul Anselmo said.

In second grade WBCSD students scored 78.4% compared to the state average of 61.3%, and in third grade the district’s students scored 75.4% at or above proficiency versus the state average of 70.1%.

WBCSD also beat out two-thirds of surrounding districts for IRI scores in second grade, and all surrounding districts in third grade, he said.

The district also adopted its re-entry plan for the fall, which was required for any district that accepted federal CARES Act funding.

The plan did not include any changes to the mask policy, which requires teachers to wear masks should the county reach Category 3 or “red” and requires masks in Category 2 in cases when social distancing cannot be maintained.

One addition, suggested by Brower, is that the district may also make allowances in cases where a student or teacher voluntarily provides proof of vaccination, though it is not required.

Students and staff are also not required to be vaccinated, Paul Anselmo said. Though the district already informed families of this information, communications from the district will now also cite Idaho Code per a change by the Legislature this year.

The reopening plan was passed with trustee Troy Reinbold voting no.

“We are not mandating vaccines in any way, shape or form,” Anselmo said.

Trustees also approved the Priest River Lamanna High School student handbook and raised the minimum GPA requirement from 1.75 to 2.0 at the suggestion of trustee Margaret Hall, who said she would like to see a focus on improving academic achievement.

Hall also asked if a 1.75 was standard for most high school requirements.

“[2.0] is higher than a lot of schools,” Anselmo said. “[Generally,] you cannot fail more than one class.”