After a year of budget cuts, a failed supplemental levy, subsequent levy passage, and continued tension on the Lakeland School Board, both trustee seats up for election drew multiple candidates. 

In Zone 5, restaurant owner and parent, Allison Burnett, faces Jeff Brodhead, a business owner who recently moved to Hauser. Retired Lakeland Superintendent Bob Jones, who holds the seat and is in his 80s, decided not to run for a second term. 

Burnett owns Embers by the Lake, a pizza restaurant in Hauser, with her husband. She is running to support the teachers and school district that have gone above and beyond for her own children and her employees. 

In Zone 4, incumbent Dave Quimby is vying for a second term against local engineer, Chris Beaty. 

Quimby, a retired aircraft mechanic, is a longtime volunteer football and wrestling coach. Quimby said he is running for a second term to keep supporting students.

Beaty decided to run after the district’s supplemental levy failed last fall. He was confused why there was so much strain in Lakeland, when academically the district performs well, in large part due to the program the levy funds. 

“We’re over national averages, we’re over local averages, we’re over state averages,” Beaty said. “We shouldn’t be in this type of turmoil.”

Zone 4 

Dave Quimby (incumbent)

Quimby, 56, ran for school board after frustrations with administrators over what he saw as hypocritical enforcement of district policies and run down facilities.

Quimby spent decades as an aircraft mechanic both as a Marine, in other branches of the military and as a civilian. He has been an active volunteer at Lakeland since he moved back to Rathdrum 20 years ago. He has four daughters and two sons, some of whom went to Lakeland schools but have since graduated.

In 2019, with a largely different group of school leaders at the helm, Quimby said he had issues with how student athletes were disciplined. He gave the enforcement of Lakeland’s tobacco-free campus as an example. He said that wrestlers were getting suspended for chewing tobacco on campus, when coaches were doing the same thing. 

School admin, Quimby said, argued that the tobacco usage was different in adults versus students but Quimby disagreed saying the rule should apply to everyone. 

“I was like that’s not fair and equitable,” Quimby said. 

Since Quimby was first elected in 2021, many of those administrators have left, although the “jury is still out” on the district’s new superintendent hired this spring, Quimby said. 

Updating facilities was also important to Quimby, he said. There has been progress but Quimby wants to serve another term to “keep sticking up for the kids of Lakeland.” 

Quimby graduated from Lakeland High School after bouncing around from Eastern Washington to Montana. Coming to Lakeland saved Quimby’s life, he said. 

“I do get emotional. This is my school. This school saved my life, literally, not joking, it was terrible, yeah, it was really bad,” he said. “And then I came here, and I was like, it was like, the sun came out. It was nice. The buildings were nice. The teachers were great. The admin cared and I just want kids to have that experience.” 

Quimby drew the ire of many educators when during a town hall after the November 2024 supplemental levy failure, he said they shouldn’t get stipends for mentoring new teachers. 

 “We have teachers and admins with their hands out all the time. If you’re a teacher, you’re a leader,” Quimby said at the December meeting. “You don’t get a stipend for going to a meeting, okay? Period. We’ve got to cut them away. Nobody in the real world gets these stipends.” 

He is usually the tie breaker when the trustees are split on an issue. He voted to put a levy for a reduced amount on the ballot in May and argues he was key in the levy’s passage by making pro-Lakeland videos on Facebook that didn’t explicitly tell people how to vote but showcased positives about the district. 

Quimby said he wants to restore pride in the district and keep liberal agendas out of the school. 

“It’s snuck in a little bit,” Quimby said. “We’re a pretty conservative school district, so, I mean, people keep it at bay.”

Quimby was endorsed by the KCRCC but said he tries not to be political. 

“I am not a politician by any means. I hate it,” he said. “I am always worried about saying something stupid.”

On many issues, Quimby said he sways back and forth like the four day school week and access to mental health counselors in schools. Quimby said he sees both sides and just keeps his focus on supporting students. 

Quimby had not raised or spent any funds as of Wednesday, according to Idaho sunshine reports.

Chris Beaty

Beaty, 54, sold his house in Post Falls last year and moved seven miles down the road so his youngest daughter could go to Lakeland High School. 

He is a mechatronics engineer, who works in robotics. His youngest is a sophomore and he has two adult children.

He decided to run for school board in part due to the failed supplemental levy in November and subsequent series of tense trustee meetings. 

At the first meeting following the failure, Beaty presented a pie chart showing how narrow the split was between yes and no votes and asked trustees to run the levy again. 

“I wanted to add my skillset to the board,” he said. “I’m an analytical data-driven person and I like peace and harmony.” 

Beaty said he understands criticism from current trustees that the district’s budget has grown significantly in the last 10 years; however, there’s significant payoff for that investment, Beaty argued. 

Lakeland students are receiving and accepting more scholarships than ever, he said. 

“We’re a good district. We’re a conservative district. I mean, everything is green,” Beaty said. “Why are we fighting?” 

He argues the district needs better communication to the community.

Beaty said he would like to see a better “spirit of cooperation” between the trustees and district administration. 

“It’s not harmonious,” Beaty said. “An observer can see that there’s a lot of contention there.” 

Beaty said he would have a respectful approach of “listen to understand, not listen to respond.” 

He describes himself as “risk-averse” and the best way to avoid risk is planning, which data can help inform.

Beaty is endorsed by the North Idaho Republicans.  He raised about $700 and contributed $450 to his campaign as of Wednesday, according to Idaho sunshine reports. Former Lakeland Trustee Tim Skubitz contributed.

Zone 5

Allison Burnett

Burnett, 45, and her husband moved their three children from North Idaho STEM Charter Academy to Lakeland last school year.

“They were just treated so well,” Burnett said. “The whole system was just so much more smooth that I ever anticipated.”

Before the transition, Burnett still had involvement with the district through her employees, many of whom are teenagers attending Lakeland schools. Embers also frequently hires Lakeland alumni and teachers, she said. 

Burnett was confused when she started hearing so many negative things about the district, especially in supplemental levy conversations, after her own positive experience. 

“My reason (for running) is to preserve and protect the kind of special district that we already have,” Burnett said. “It’s not about fixing something that’s broken for me…I care and I want to support the students. I want to support the teachers. I want to help in any way I can.”

She was surprised to see how at odds the current board of trustees seems to be. 

“I feel the board should be more of a cohesive unit,” Burnett said. 

If elected, Burnett said she would trust the experts at the district like the Chief Financial Officer to make recommendations based on their background knowledge. 

“They need to allow those people to do those things,” Burnett said. “The board has a specific role, and, you know, that’s good but, it doesn’t need to have its hands in everything.”

Burnett believes the district is doing a great job of informing parents of what their kids are learning and reading in school. 

“We have a very special school that a lot of those issues that people are assuming, the blanket items that are plaguing our whole country are not necessarily happening here, and that’s worth protecting,” Burnett said. 

Lakeland trustees discussed moving to a four day school week last year during a round of budget cuts, Burnett said she is generally supportive of the move but there would need to be additional community outreach and planning to ensure a four-day week would be a good fit for the district.

Burnett did not seek endorsements from any political groups during her campaign but is a registered republican. She did receive donations from the North Idaho Builders’ PAC, former Lakeland trustee Tim Skubitz, and North Idaho College Trustee Mary Havercroft, according to Idaho sunshine reports. She had raised $1,800, as of Wednesday.

Jeffery Brodhead 

Brodhead did not respond to numerous requests for an interview from EdNews. He is endorsed by the Kootenai Country Republican Central Committee (KCRCC). 

Brodhead said, in the central committee’s questionnaire, that education is the number one target of marxists.

“We cannot allow any further encroachment there – they must be repelled, because they WILL NOT simply surrender and walk away,” Brodhead wrote. 

He also said that God should no longer be excluded from education. Brodhead and his wife moved to Idaho about two years ago from Spokane County. He has three adult children. 

Brodhead has his own business in electronic design and repair services.

In another questionnaire from Watchmen Ministry North Idaho, Brodhead said he is concerned children are being “under-educated in the basics.” 

“We need to protect American children from social engineering and self-hate agenda,” Broadhead said wrote. “No amount of either is acceptable – we’ve seen the effects which teaching children they are not created in God’s image, have had upon generations.” 

When asked by the KCRCC how he would make himself available to constituents if elected Brodhead raised concerns about “angry hordes of Leftists” who could overwhelm his personal communication streams. 

“Being a public servant does not require being a public slave,” he wrote. “I’ll depend upon God and our Sheriff (if necessary), to fend off crazies.” 

Brodhead has not received any donations, according to Idaho sunshine reports.