Area may join Cd'A School District

COEUR d'ALENE - Voters living on two streets in a Hayden subdivision will have the final say on Nov. 6 as to whether or not their neighborhood should become part of the Coeur d'Alene School District.

The 20 homes in Balser Estates, located west of Atlas Avenue between Honeysuckle and Hayden avenues, now sit within the boundary of the Rathdrum-based Lakeland School District. Property owners asked Coeur d'Alene school officials earlier this year if their homes could be annexed into the Coeur d'Alene school system's boundary.

"We believe that it is in the best interest of the children residing in our neighborhood to go to school in their own neighborhood and city," said a letter the homeowners sent to Coeur d'Alene school officials in January.

There are 20 children now living in the neighborhood who must be transported eight miles by bus, if they attend their Lakeland district elementary school. Coeur d'Alene's Atlas Elementary is just two blocks from the subdivision.

"Many of those children are already attending Atlas, as out-of-district students," said Wendell Wardell, the district's chief operations officer.

Under the district's open enrollment policy, students from other districts are able to apply for enrollment and transfer to Coeur d'Alene schools. They accepted based on available space and the needs of the child. State funding for out-of-district children is transferred to the Coeur d'Alene district from their home districts.

"We would like to see our children included in the regular enrollment each year, rather than going through the stress of a transfer request to get our children into their neighborhood school," wrote the homeowners.

The letter states that prior to residential development a few years ago, the Balser Estates property was open farmland.

The Balser Estates homes are within the city of Hayden, and are on the city's tax rolls. The property owners said they would also like to be eligible to vote in Coeur d'Alene school bond and levy elections.

The move will add $4.3 million to the Coeur d'Alene School District's tax base, although it is not expected to generate a significant amount of additional tax dollars for the district.

The Coeur d'Alene and Lakeland school boards have already approved the annexation, and in June, the Idaho State Board of Education gave the plan its blessing.

The registered voters affected by the annexation must approve the measure at the polls on Nov. 6. There are currently 42 registered voters in the area. They all live on two streets in the Balser Estates subdivision in the county's Precinct 18: Justice Way and Magistrate Loop.