Hall elected West Bonner board chair

PRIEST RIVER — The West Bonner County School Board has new leaders.

After swearing in new trustee Kathy Nash to her Zone 5 seat, trustees Margaret Hall and Troy Reinbold were formally sworn into office after being re-elected by voters in November.

Hall was then elected board chair and Ann Yount was elected vice chair. Yount was appointed to the Zone 4 seat after former WBCSD board chair Keith Rutledge was recalled by voters along with former vice chair Susan Brown, who served in Zone 2.

Hall's nomination moved forward in a 3-2 vote after Zone 2 trustee Paul Turco declined a nomination for the post by Troy Reinbold. Voting against the nomination moving forward were Reinbold and Nash.

Hall was elected to the post in a 3-2 vote with Reinbold and Nash again voting against.

In refusing the nomination, Turco said he felt Hall had the most experience and was "the right choice" for the district.

Because a motion was on the floor, Kren held the vote with Reinbold and Nash voting in favor. Hall, Turco and Yount all voted against.

In nominating Hall, Yount said she was the best choice for the position.

"I just would like to applaud Margy Hall … she's definitely the most experienced, the most knowledgeable and she's a huge asset to our district," Turco said in seconding the motion. "I look forward to having her continue to be our chair."

Nash was appointed to serve as treasurer after suggesting she serve in the role until June and after a brief discussion on whether a board trustee could serve in the role, and if they needed to be bonded immediately upon taking on the post. Previously, the post had been held by the district business manager, a post which is vacant at the moment.

"I would say that, in order to have a treasurer, we could just have it until June, make it an interim treasurer," Nash said, noting that it would give the district time to explore the option and to make the best move for West Bonner.

Nash's fellow trustees said they weren't opposed to the move, but said the district needed to iron out the wrinkles to make sure all steps taken were correct.

"I'm definitely not opposed to this and I'm glad to know that she's willing to do this, Turco said. "But just hearing the hesitation if there's any discrepancy I'd rather us make the right step forward. This is something that we should look at the board clerk description, ironing out the bonding as well."

Like Turco, Yount said she appreciated Nash's willingness to serve as treasurer, but wanted to make sure the district had its ducks in a row first.

The board approved a nomination of Julie Hinshaw as board clerk, following a discussion on the length of how long that appointment might be.

A motion by Nash to amend Hinshaw's appointment to June was voted down in a 2-3 vote, with Hall, Turco and Yount all voting against. Hinshaw's appointment was then approved through the end of the year in a 4-1 vote, with Nash voting against.