Busy agenda faces West Bonner trustees

It's going to be a busy night for West Bonner County trustees as the school board is slated to hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday.

The board will hear updates from a grant and fundraising committee, including information on the creation of an endowment fund for the school district and a grant application to fund a school resource officer position. Also on the agenda is a discussion regarding suicide intervention and prevention measures, including collaboration with countywide suicide prevention efforts.

The board is also slated to hear an update on an inventory of the district's real property and the next steps available to the district, discuss a salary schedule for the district's registered nursing position, and review Zone 3 candidate applications. 

Troy Reinbold advised fellow board members in mid-July that he was stepping down due to work and family commitments.

Reinbold's written resignation was formally accepted by the board at the July 31 special meeting and a vacancy for the Zone 3 post was declared. The board approved an application process, similar to past vacancies on the board, setting an Aug. 19 deadline for interested parties to submit a letter of interest and application.

Once appointed, the new Zone 3 trustee will serve for the remainder of Reinbold’s term, which expires in January 2028.  The zone covers the area southeast of Priest River that extends from the south bank of the Pend Oreille River to the southern edge of Bonner County. 

Proposed meal pricing increases will be considered by the board as will a proposed protocol on handling of threat assessments. The process outlines steps to handle potential threats, noting that each situation is unique and must be assessed individually. The steps roughly include identification of potential threats, securing the school or schools impacted, employment of threat assessment tools and, when warranted, convening the entire team tasked with response to such threats. Threats would be rated as low, medium, or high concern.

A proposal to teach seventh grade at Priest Lake Elementary will be heard by the board. Under the plan, students would meet would seventh-grade teachers at Priest River Lamanna High School periodically throughout the year but would have the opportunity to attend PLE for classes. 

Also on the agenda is consideration of student handbooks at PRLHS, Priest River Junior High School, and Priest River, Idaho Hill and Priest Lake elementary schools.

The board is also scheduled to go into executive session on several issues, with potential action following the session on two employee issues and a labor contract.