MOU on ice for two weeks

COEUR d’ALENE — Not so fast, said board member Lisa May at the Coeur d’Alene School Board’s meeting Monday night.

The board considered a memorandum of understanding with the city of Hayden, which the Hayden City Council approved at its meeting last week. The MOU proposes to exchange the school district’s Northwest Expedition Academy parcel, approximately 1 acre in size, for the city’s 1.76 acre parcel at 9766 N. Government Way, no later than Sept. 15.

May asked that the public be allowed to review the MOU for 12 more days, and that the board take up the item again at its regular July 2 meeting. “We haven’t traded or given away any school facility in recent history,” May said. Board chairman Casey Morrisroe explained that the MOU is meant to guide additional work. The actual land exchange agreement will come before the board, and will be much more specific, he said. He said Hayden Mayor Steve Griffitts had explained it to him as “‘I want to date you,’ not ‘This is how many kids we’re going to have.’” May said transparency took priority. “It won’t delay any progress,” she said. Superintendent Stan Olson advised moving forward with the MOU. District patrons had already weighed in on the process, he said. “We need to keep this moving forward, and keep the work that has to get more specific as we move on, on a schedule.”

May cited school safety considerations for more than 350 families whose students study in portable classrooms. She said that the MOU and land swap with Hayden was a great idea, but she wanted to explore remediating portable classrooms. Olson said such remediation will take anywhere from 3 to 10 years.

Board member Tom Hearn said the board had been “extremely transparent” about the situation. He had no problem delaying it to the July meeting, but did object to delaying it beyond that date. “The board has made its decision, and until there is a vote to change that, I say let’s move on.” Hearn went on record stating that he would support the MOU, following a delay.

Board member Tambra Pickford questioned the amount of public input the district would gain in 12 days. Morrisroe said he wanted to move forward. “We should allow our community time to review this,” said May. Morrisroe said the district could push to get the land swap details submitted for public info in August and up for approval in September.

May said the board needed to do a better job to include the community in the land swap conversation, much of which had prompted “heated conversation” in executive session, she said.

Pickford did not withdraw her motion to approve the MOU, and the vote failed 2-2 with Hearn and May in opposition. Board member Dave Eubanks, who tendered his resignation earlier this month, did not attend the meeting.

Board clerk Lynn Towne explained that applications will be accepted for Eubanks’ vacant seat starting July 3. Interviews tentatively scheduled for early August will be held in public session, she said. It would be nice to have the seat filled before the school year starts, Morrisroe said.

Trustees for the Coeur d’Alene School District also looked at the ending fiscal year, and ahead to the next fiscal year. Business manager Katie Ebner mentioned the possibility of ending the current fiscal year with a surplus of $80,000 to $200,000 thanks to unexpected state revenue. This is not anticipated to be repeated, she said.

The district anticipates $2,999,052 in new costs for the 18-19 fiscal year, including $961,000 in staff experience steps and staff education lanes. The district-wide 1.5 percent salary increase for all staff will lead to $672,201 in new costs. Classified salaries will also rise $220,124 to $8,629,593.

Board member Hearn chuckled, saying that he thought those steps and lanes were supposed to come at no cost to the district. In response, Ebner pointed out the $505,094 the district will save in salaries and benefits thanks to retirements.

The district will receive more than $630,000 from the state lottery, according to Ebner.

There were no public comments offered at the budget hearing, which was very sparsely attended. Final approval will take place at the regular July 2 board meeting.

The board unanimously approved the hire of Coeur d’Alene High School Principal Bret Heller. Director of secondary education Trina Caudle said he will likely be in the area around Independence Day, and starts his contract Aug. 1.