Saturday Slight

If you want to play tennis and compete on your high school team, bring a shovel. 

So, that's what Emma (Willie and Debbie's exchange student from Berlin) did yesterday. 

I hadn't seen Emma in a while, so it was nice to visit with her and fill in as her taxi service to the Travers Park courts. 

Emma and about ten other tennis players showed up, which was good cuz there was a lot of snow to be moved. 

Darby and Emma shoveled yesterday so they could use their racquets on a real court rather than pretending at the high school gym.

The overall comment:  the tennis players have a bit more advantage than athletes in other spring sports, like baseball, soccer and track.

At least their playing venue has a limited size and can be cleared by human power and shovels. 

Nurse Julie and her mom Carrie had been at Travers Park for a walk when I saw them and did some visiting yesterday. 

In other news, I've probably far exceeded the point of "how many different ways are there to take pictures of snow?"

Still, it was a pretty day, so Bill and I went for a drive.  This time we did the Rapid Lightning Creek-Gold Creek loop. 

While stopping briefly at the Pack River Store/Restaurant, I met up with store owner Brittany who, I learned, is the daughter of Billy Bopp, a longtime basketball referee in North Idaho.

During our visit,  Brittany told me that Billy will soon be in the officials Hall of Fame.  

Congrats, Billy!  We are proud of you!

After leaving the store, we drove the scenic route which goes east from the Pack River General Store for several miles before a left turn onto Upper Gold Creek Road, which includes a trip past Western Pleasure Guest Ranch.

Our conclusion, as we moved along past winter scenes perfect for Christmas cards----these residents have a LOT more snow that we do, and we've got more than enough. 

It takes an experience like that drive to remember perspective:  we need to count our blessings that our snow may be gone much sooner than their snow. 

For now, it's pretty.  Can't say I found any new ways to take pictures of snow, but the outing was still fun for both Bill and me. 

As we look ahead, Bill has some meetings to attend next week, so he'll have the opportunity start getting his life back to somewhat normal.

 Meanwhile I'm gonna assemble a list and start on little projects pointed toward spring.

So, like the clock change tonight, we'll keep moving forward. 

Speaking of which, I've included a summary provided by Lake Pend Oreille School District 84 below the photos. This summarizes why we're having a school levy next week. 

Bill and I will be going Tuesday morning to our polling place and voting yes.  

As a retired educator in this community, who on almost a daily basis sees phenomenal ways our local public school graduates continue to make a positive difference throughout our world, I believe that investment in education is one of the most important and valuable ways we can spend our tax dollars. 

The results are long-term, intangible at times, but definitely worth the investment. 

So, we'll continue to do our part to support our local public education system which does its best to enhance the future for our young people.

I encourage voters to vote YES on Tuesday. 

Happy Saturday.  Check out the levy info. below. 

Vote YES on the school district levy Tuesday. 

Here are ANSWERS to some frequently asked QUESTIONS regarding next Tuesday's Levy Election.

Why run Maintenance and Operations Supplemental Levy in March?

State law stipulates levy elections can be run only in four months: August, November, March or May. The school district chooses to run its levy in March for several reasons. 

August and November are far too early to know how much money the district may receive from the state, as the state isn’t close to setting its budget for the subsequent year. 

By the time the school district prepares the ballot for a March election, there is a much higher degree of certainty of the state allocation. Running the levy election in May is too late to responsibly allow for the possibility it might not be approved. 

If the levy were to fail in May, the district would have to lay off up to 300 staff members and begin the process of consolidating schools to prepare for the next school year. 

 For these reasons, Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene, West Bonner, Lakeland and Boundary school districts – to name a few in the state – are also running levies this March.

How many people work for the Lake Pend Oreille School District?
There are two numbers to reference in answering this question. One number refers to Staff FTE (Full Time Equivalent Employees) and the other references the head count, or actual number of employees including part-time positions. 

For example, two four-hour employees equals 1 FTE, but count as two separate people employed by the district. 

There are approximately 500 FTE and approximately 900 people that work for the school district in any given year. This number fluctuates throughout the year.

Is there a $39 million tax measure to improve school facilities on the horizon?

No, there is no plan to run a $39 million levy. However, there is a Citizen Facility Advisory Committee made up of 25 community members who are working to develop a long-range facility plan for the Lake Pend Oreille School District. 

There have only been two meetings, both of which were held as public meetings. Minutes for both meetings can be found on the district website at www.lposd.org. 

All future meetings will be held as public meetings as well, and the community is encouraged to attend.

Why the increase in the overall levy amount?
One of the strategic priorities for the Lake Pend Oreille School District is in the area of recruiting and retaining talented staff. 

This priority was identified based upon feedback from the community at large: Over the course of the past year, community members have been engaged through surveys and several public Stakeholder Engagement Meetings. 

The feedback from those who participated consistently emphasized the importance of hiring and keeping good teachers. Acting on that as a top priority, the levy increase will allow for wage and salary increases for both certificated and classified staff in the school district. 

This will help the district to become regionally competitive in Idaho with wages and salaries. The levy also funds all academic and extracurricular activities, curriculum and instructional materials, staff training, technology, and one-third of all district staff. 

While the increase in the overall levy amount is significant, the overall average tax increase for property owners is modest; for those with a home valued at the average $250,000, the increase in the levy amount is only $6.92 per month. 

And even with this increase, the tax rate in our district will remain approximately 50 percent below the state average.