District to maintain ownership of LPOHS facilities

Students scheduled to move campuses for 2027-’28 school year

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff

During the regular Lake Pend Oreille School Board meeting May 12, members discussed the recent appraisal of the current Lake Pend Oreille Alternative High School facility at 1005 N. Boyer Ave., in Sandpoint, and the future of the school in general. Board members denied allegations that they plan to sell the property, though they still intend to relocate the alternative high school to the portables behind Sandpoint Middle School for the 2027-’28 school year.

LPOSD announced in February its intention to close the 117-year-old facility, which requires extensive maintenance and renovations that the school district says it cannot afford at this time. As few as 50 students are enrolled at LPOHS for the 2026-’27 school year — low numbers that further reduce state funding eligibility. The Idaho legislature has already made cuts to education funding across the state.

“The facts are that we have a shrinking population of students at LPOHS — and this is not a statistic that we should be worried about. This is a success story,” said board Chair Lonnie Williams.

Due to the costs of full-time employees, LPOHS will not offer electives this coming school year; rather, students will take buses to Sandpoint High School or attend non-core classes online.

Construction will be ongoing at SMS during the coming school year, necessitating the middle school’s use of the portables. LPOHS students will move in once workers finish improvements on the main SMS building.

As part of the process of closing the school building, LPOSD solicited an appraisal from Valbridge Property Advisors, which found that, though the land has value, the structures on the Boyer property are “at the end of their usable” lives. Appraisers valued the lot at approximately $1.34 million; still, the school board has no intention of selling the property.

“I want everybody to know — and the public to know — and this is to be very, very clear: The reason for the appraisal is because it’s law. We have to get an appraisal,” said Williams. “The reason for the appraisal is not because we’re selling the property. We’re not selling the property; it is not going to happen.”

Williams added that there may come a time when LPOSD needs the Boyer property, and therefore, the school board cannot “hamstring” the district or future boards by making any permanent decisions, such as selling it.

“We still have people in the community that said that they are hearing from people and seeing on social media that the board is planning on closing LPOHS. That is absolutely a lie,” said LPOSD Superintendent Becky Meyer.

Meyer clarified that, though the building is closing, the school is not and will not “as long as I’m the superintendent and this board is here.” Still, she argued that moving campuses will ultimately benefit the students.

“We have to be able to provide students with equal opportunities,” said Meyer. “We cannot do that if they have to ride a bus to and from electives every period. It’s not possible and it’s not fair.”

Members of the community voiced their opposition to the move and asked the board to consider alternative locations, including former LPOSD employee Tari Pardini, who worried that LPOHS students taking SHS electives would be “looked at and bullied as they’re coming to and from the portables.”

“Now, I don’t want to cast any aspersions on what your plans are and what you guys have done and where you plan on putting the school, but I’m going to look you in the eyes and tell you, I think it’s a mistake,” said culinary arts teacher Rand Rosecrans. “And that’s what I believe.”

“I think we need to continue to search. [There was] a little ray of hope in my heart when I heard we’re not closing there, because things can change,” he later added.

LPOSD meetings are on the second Tuesday of each month at the Ponderay headquarters (365 Triangle Drive). Find agendas and meeting recordings at posd.org/board-of-trustees.