Page 4 - Troy Reinbold News Today

It would have been much easier to get the vote out in the first place. | Opinion

It would have been much easier to get the vote out in the first place. | Opinion

PRIEST RIVER, Idaho - Days after West Bonner County School District superintendent Brandon Durst announced his intent to resign, the district held another meeting.

Shortly before it was scheduled to start, the West Bonner school board meeting was paused for a phone call. Superintendent Branden Durst and trustees Margy Hall and Carlyn Barton then broke from a huddle near the front of the almost-full room and left the cafeteria.

What did you do last summer? A group of mothers and grandmothers in tiny Priest River proudly responds, “We saved a school district.” It was a relentless and months-long effort that included hundreds of home visits and thousands of phone calls. But a core group of 10 — with a hundred more participating — led an implausible community campaign to recall two trustees on the West Bonner County School District’s board of trustees.

The deadline to officially withdraw as a candidate saw a handful of candidates pull their names from consideration for upcoming Bonner County elections on Nov. 7.

Originally published Sept. 21 by the Spokesman-Review.

PRIEST RIVER, Idaho -- A West Bonner School Board meeting was canceled Wednesday night because one of the board members did not show up.

As the clock ticked closer to 6 p.m., the murmuring started as West Bonner County School Board trustee Troy Reinbold's seat remained empty. "Is he here?" someone whispered at a table near the middle of the room? "Is he coming?" asked another. Without Reinhold's presence, the remaining board members of Hall and Carlyn Barton did not constitute a quorum and were forced to cancel the meeting.

The three board members were scheduled to declare a vacancy for the two trustee seats that were recalled last month.