A coalition led by former educators filed state and federal grievances Tuesday against the Lake Pend Oreille School District over a plan to move alternative high school students to trailers behind the middle school.
The more than 30-page grievance argues that Superintendent Becky Meyer decided to relocate the alternative school, where she used to be principal, without board discussion or a formal motion.
The complaint, filed by Jackie Branum, retired West Bonner School District superintendent, also alleges misuse of consent agendas, manipulations of attendance data, misallocation of public funds and open meeting violations.
In a statement, the school district largely denied the claims in the complaint. Meyer said she plans to ask the board to bring the school relocation to a vote at its next meeting in response to the community’s request.
The grievances come after months of controversy over the planned relocation, largely led by retired art teacher Randy Wilhelm, who founded the Facebook group Advocates for Lake Pend Oreille High School, which now has over 500 members.
The district’s plan
The district plans to move alternative students attending Lake Pend Oreille High School from its historic 117-year-old building to two portable classrooms and a former driver’s education building behind Sandpoint Middle School starting in the fall of 2027.
The district has argued that an enrollment drop from about 100 alternative students in March 2024 to 76 this March has led to a budget deficit that necessitates the move.
The coalition argues staffing changes have contributed to the enrollment drop, with electives like art no longer offered on LPO’s campus. Instead, students are bused back to Sandpoint High. Next year, there will be four teachers at the alternative school to cover the core subjects of English, math, social studies and science. The school’s full-time counselor position will also be eliminated at the end of the school year in favor of a dual counselor-principal position.
The older building also needs repairs and is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, district staff said.
The coalition’s grievances
The complaint, sent to the Idaho Department of Education and the United States Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, alleges federal civil rights, programmatic and funding violations.
The coalition also filed open meeting law violation complaints with the Idaho Attorney General and Bonner County Prosecutor, according to a news release from Branum, who represents the Concerned Citizens for LPOSH Coalition.
“The administration is attempting to solve a financial math problem by destroying a psychological safe haven mandated by law,” Branum said. “They have spent millions prioritizing executive perks and leveraging restricted pandemic learning-loss grants behind closed doors to construct premium corporate board spaces for executive staff, while stripping localized support services from at-risk youth.”
The grievances include:
- The lack of a formal vote by the board of trustees approving the alternative high school’s move
- A reduction in staff and electives from LPOHS through bulk consent agenda attachments
- The potential state funding downgrade from co-locating the alternative high school on the middle school campus
- Overspending at the district office in both salaries and benefits and district office remodels
Read the full grievance here.
The complaint asks the board of trustees to freeze relocation plans, stop approving related items on the consent agenda, and order a third-party forensic audit of the district’s data reporting.
In a statement Tuesday, the district argued that many of the claims were false.
The district believes the school will still qualify for at-risk student funding as defined by law and argues that the school will still have its own campus.
A full-time math teacher was not eliminated, the statement argues. Instead, a part-time position was eliminated due to a drop in federal Title 1 funds and enrollment.
Positions and electives have been eliminated at other schools, like Clark Fork High School, due to reduced enrollment. Students in Clark Fork have to take a lot of their electives online as a result, the statement said.
Alternative high school students will not be required to take electives at Sandpoint High School and can instead take electives through independent study.
A remodel to the district’s boardroom was paid for out of the general fund and approved by the board, according to the statement. The intention of the remodel was to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, increase space, and address security concerns.
The district’s attendance system, including flex time, is used elsewhere in the state, the statement said.
It’s unclear as of Tuesday what, if any, action will be taken at the state or federal level to investigate the claims.
In the meantime, Wilhelm, the retired art teacher, is building a float for Sandpoint’s Fourth of July parade, a mini-model of the school.
He’s hoping at least 100 people will walk in the parade with him.
