West Ada trustees drop class fees

West Ada school trustees voted Tuesday to drop student class fees, two months after a district judge declared the fees unconstitutional.

The fees, ranging from $10 to $50, had brought in about $900,000 for the state’s largest school district.

Trustees voted 4-1 to eliminate the fees, starting with the 2016-17 school year. Trustee Russell Joki cast the lone dissenting vote, Meridian Press reported Tuesday night; Joki wanted the fees eliminated immediately.

Mary Ann Ranell
Mary Ann Ranells

Joki had filed the lawsuit in October 2012, challenging the constitutionality of fees charged to his grandchildren. Elected to the school board in May, Joki had recused himself from past actions on the fee issue. He did abstain from voting on a board motion to drop appeals of District Judge Richard Greenwood’s ruling, the Idaho Statesman reported Tuesday. That motion passed.

Ranells contract. In other business, the district and new superintendent Mary Ann Ranells agreed on a contract. (Click here for the details.)

The contract will pay Ranells $77,478 for the final 110 days of the school year.

Ranells, the former superintendent of the Lakeland School District, was hired on Dec, 15.

 

 

Kevin Richert

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 30 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRichert. He can be reached at [email protected]

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