Durst witness says West Bonner School District owes him more than $400K

By Ryan Suppe
IdahoEdNews.org

Branden Durst hired an expert witness to testify in court that the West Bonner County School District owes its former superintendent $402,210. 

Durst last year sued the school district, where he was superintendent for nearly four months, after the WBCSD Board terminated his contract. Durst had appeared to resign from the job when he penned a letter announcing his “decision to seek an amicable and fair exit.” The letter followed the Idaho State Board of Education’s decision to reject Durst’s request for an emergency certification to serve as superintendent, a condition of his contract with West Bonner. 

But Durst later claimed that board trustees “intentionally misrepresented the nature and purpose” of the letter and breached his contract. The district also violated “an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing,” he argued.  

West Bonner has denied Durst’s allegations in filings with the First Judicial District Court in Bonner County. The district is represented by Anderson, Julian and Hull, a Boise-based law firm. 

Attorneys for the school district have argued that Durst’s contract was void after the State Board rejected his certification request, then he “voluntarily resigned.” Even if the court were to conclude that he didn’t resign, the terms of Durst’s contract stated he could be terminated for failing to obtain certification, they argued. 

“In short, [Durst] seeks to enforce a contract the law forbids, undo his own resignation, and fault the District for both state law and the contract’s plain terms,” the attorneys wrote in a September motion.

The case is scheduled for trial in January. But both parties in recent months have requested summary judgements, asking a judge to rule on their arguments. A hearing on these motions is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 1. 

In October, Durst’s attorney, Ron Shepherd of Shep Law Group in Meridian, filed an expert witness disclosure, which showed Durst hired a certified public accountant to calculate the value of his lost income and benefits. A report, from Rick Sager of Sager CPAs and Advisors in Meridian, estimates that Durst is owed: 

• $168,208.46 for lost wages; 

• $39,843.86 for unpaid medical benefits;

• $12,692.31 for unused paid vacation days; and 

• $181,465 for lost retirement benefits. 

Durst declined to comment on this story, citing advice from legal counsel. West Bonner Superintendent Kim Spacek did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Breaking down the lost earnings report

The expert witness report makes some assumptions, including that Durst would have fulfilled two years of his contract worth $110,000 annually.

While Durst’s contract — which he signed July 1, 2023 — spanned two years, the second year wasn’t guaranteed. It was contingent on an evaluation at the beginning of the following fiscal year. The West Bonner school board terminated the contract on Oct. 26, 2023, fewer than four months into his tenure.

Assuming he would have completed two years, the report estimated that Durst lost about 18.5 months in wages, totaling $168,208.46, along with 20 months of medical, vision and dental benefits, totaling $39,843.86. 

West Bonner paid Durst $55,060.87 between June 2023 and December 2023, according to payroll records. This included his salary for about four months, along with $14,208.31 for “extra days” he worked in November and December, after the school board had terminated his contract.

The report also assumed that Durst would have been compensated $12,692.31 for 30 unused vacation days, or 10 per “calendar year.” The contract offered him 20 vacation days “annually,” with the option to collect compensation on 10 that went unused. Durst started the job halfway through 2023, meaning he would have worked in three different calendar years and accumulated 60 vacation days, according to the report.

The report also asserted that Durst lost $9,073.20 in annual retirement benefits from the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho. PERSI retirement payouts are based on an employee’s highest 48 months of compensation. Today, Durst’s anticipated monthly benefit is $216.03, but it could have been $975 had his contract been fulfilled, the report stated. Over 20 years, the difference between his current and potential benefit is $181,465.

Durst previously served two terms as a Democrat representing Boise in the Idaho House, and half a term in the Senate before he resigned in 2013. Now a Republican living in Caldwell, Durst is the founder and head of school and sport at Brabeion Academy, a public charter school that’s scheduled to open near Nampa for the 2026-’27 school year. 

He’s also running for Caldwell’s Senate seat, challenging sitting Sen. Camille Blaylock in next year’s Republican primary election. Durst previously ran unsuccessfully for the Boise School District board of trustees in 2018, state superintendent in 2022 and Ada County commissioner in 2024.

Idaho Education News is a nonprofit online news outlet based in Boise and supported by grants from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation, the Education Writers Association and the Solutions Journalism Network. Read more at idahoednews.org.