An educated new year

Invest. Inspire. Innovate.

Those three simple statements encapsulate the principles that comprise the Coeur d'Alene School District's newly minted mission and vision statements.

"This will be the first full year that we will be using our new strategic direction as the guiding force for all of our decisions," said Superintendent Matt Handelman.

That is just one of many changes on the horizon for the public school system that serves students living in Coeur d'Alene and Hayden.

"Expect an ambitious 2015 for our district," said board chair Christa Hazel.

Hazel said in the coming year she will make a personal effort to visit with more school district patrons to listen to their concerns and share information. She said she plans to continue to invite local leaders into the schools to let them see and experience the ways the district supports its students.

"Over the coming year, I also want to improve the way we communicate the district's financial forecast with consistency and clarity to the public," Hazel said. "I'm excited to hit the ground running in the new year because I believe our schools are an important investment for our community."

The new "ISAT 2.0" goes online this spring, Handelman said. It's the new state assessment aligned with the Common Core curriculum that has been in place in Idaho schools for more than a year.

"With new leadership and representation in Boise, we will be building relationships with our legislators," Handelman said.

There are new and innovative course offerings for school district professionals and students, he said.

"We have a fledgling focus on computer science and coding across all grades, figuring out how we can fit this new form of 'literacy' into our already demanding curriculum," Handelman said. "We are also in the midst of decisions on investing in new instructional materials for mathematics."

One of the most significant changes will be the opening of the new Winton Elementary School for the 2015-16 school year. Demolition of the old building and construction of the new began last summer and has continued through the school year.

Since September, Winton staff and students have been traveling north to hold classes in the Hayden Lake Elementary building on Government Way in Hayden.

The rebuild of Winton is the final piece of a multi-school remodeling and upgrade project financed by a 2012 voter- approved bond of $32.7 million.

School officials announced earlier this month that there is a shortfall of $1.8 million in the budget to complete the Winton project.

"We are, of course, faced with the challenge of identifying how to best fill the funding gap for Winton's construction with minimal impact to the rest of our organization," said Handelman. "With the demographic study from last summer, we know that we have the challenge of exploring how to address growth in the coming years, starting now. Throughout all of these challenges, we must continue to earn the public's trust and support."

Recruiting and retaining "the finest educators and employees" will continue to be an important challenge, at all levels of the organization, Handelman said.

Voters living in the district will be asked in March to approve a supplemental operations and maintenance levy. School officials have not yet set the amount they will place on the ballot, but they are expected to do that early in January, possibly at their next board meeting on Monday. If approved, the new levy will replace a two-year measure that has added $12.9 million per year for the past two years to the district's general operating fund.

Handelman said he finds all the upcoming changes and challenges to be exciting.

"Ultimately, though, I continue to be extremely excited about, and humbled by, the quality of our employees across the district - from our great and dedicated teachers, who work tirelessly for their students, to an incredibly strong and vibrant administrative staff, to our support personnel who make things work 'invisibly' and seamlessly on a daily basis," Handelman said.