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BOUNDARY COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 101

General 

The Boundary County School District No. 101 was created by the State Department of Education on October 20, 1947.  Prior to this date there were a number of small community school districts established to fill the educational needs of the students.  The formation of the District consolidated 17 of these small community schools.  The District covers all of Boundary County.  There have been no boundary changes to the District since 1947.

The District’s office is located in the City of Bonners Ferry, the 49^th largest city in the State (2002 U.S. Census- population 2,515) which was founded in 1864 incorporated in 1899.  A fur trading post was established here in 1808 by David Thompson and Finan McDonald, local trappers.  In 1864 E.L. Bonner made a ferry, which replaced the Indian canoes that had ferried people across the Kootenai River to the Canadian Gold Fields.  Bonners Ferry is located on the northeastern corner of Idaho on Highway 95 and U.S. 2.  Mileage from Bonners Ferry to other points: 24 miles south of Canada, 31 miles north of Sandpoint, Idaho,  16 miles west of Montana, 106 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington, and 400 miles east of Seattle, Washington, and about 350 miles directly due north of Boise, Idaho, the state capital.

Boundary County, created in 1915, has 9,926 residents according to the 2001 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau.  The county encompasses 1,269 square miles and has a population density of 7.83 per square mile, utilizing the 2001 population estimate.

Timber and agriculture are the traditional primary industries in the District.  The agricultural areas of Boundary County are confined to the old flood plain of the Kootenai River Valley (approximately 35,000 acres) and the bench areas above the old flood plain (approximately 60,000 acres).  Crop production in the old flood plain consists of winter and spring wheat, spring barley, winter and spring canola, timothy and white clover for seeds and hop (grown by Elk Mountain Farms, a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch).  Crops on the bench area are spring and winter wheat, spring barley, alfalfa hay, alfalfa seed, grass hay, pasture and production of forestry and ornamental nursery landscape plant material.  Abundant supplies of cedar, Douglas Fir and Grand fir, and Whitepine on federal, state and private owned ground have, until recently supported lucrative logging industries. More than 90% of the county is forested, and three mountain ranges run through the county: Selkirk, Purcell, and Cabinet.  The Kootenai, Pack, Upper Priest and Moyie Rivers flow through this mountainous county.

Government ownership of land is divided among the following: Federal 61%, State 13%, county and municipal, less than 1%.  Bonners Ferry is served by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific Railroads.  Bonners Ferry also has a general aviation airfield with a 4,000 foot, paved runway.

The District presently operates the following schools:

School                                                  Grades             Location

Valley View Elementary                        K-5                  Bonners Ferry

Mt. Hall Elementary                              K-6                  Bonners Ferry

Evergreen Elementary                           K-5                  Moyie Springs

Naples Elementary                                K-6                  Naples

Boundary County Middle School          6-8                   Bonners Ferry

Bonners Ferry High School                   9-12                 Bonners Ferry

Riverside High School (Alternative)       9-12                 Bonners Ferry

The enrollment of the District for the years specified below is as follows:

Form of Government

Board of Trustees.  The determination of policies for the management of the District is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees (the “Board”), the members of which are elected by the qualified electors within the District.  The District is divided into five representative zones, and a member of the Board is elected from each of the five zones.  Members serve three-year terms, which are staggered to provide continuity.

The District is empowered, among other things, to: (i) purchase and sell school sites and buildings; (ii) construct and furnish school buildings; (iii) establish and maintain several kinds of schools, including kindergartens, elementary schools, special education schools, and high schools; (iv) provide books and supplies to students; (v) make and enforce all necessary rules and regulations for the control and management of the public schools in the District; (vi) adopt bylaws for its own procedures; and (vii) appoint a superintendent of schools, a clerk, a treasurer, and such officers or employees as are deemed necessary for the promotion of the interest of the schools.

Superintendent of Schools.   The Superintendent of Schools is appointed by the Board and is responsible for the actual administration of the schools in the District.  The powers and duties of the Superintendent are prescribed by the Board.  The Superintendent is appointed by the Board for a one-year to three-year term.  Compensation is fixed by the Board.

District Clerk.  The Clerk of the District is appointed by the Board.  The Clerk is responsible to the Board.  The duties of the Clerk, among others, are to attend all meetings of the Board and keep a journal of the proceedings, countersign all warrants drawn upon the District treasury, keep an account and prepare and publish an annual statement of moneys received by the District and amounts paid out of the treasury, and have custody of the records and papers of the Board.

Treasurer.  The Treasurer of the District is appointed by the Board.  The Treasurer is the custodian of all moneys belonging to the District and is required to prepare and submit to the Board a monthly report of the receipts and disbursements of the treasurer’s office. 

Current members of the Board and the Superintendent and other offices and their respective terms in office are as follows:

Office                           Person                          Years in District            Term Expiration

Chairperson                  Melanie Staples                     1                                  2007

Vice-Chairperson        Tim Bertling                             3                                  2006   

Trustee                         Maria La Barbera                  3                                   2008

Trustee                         Gil Hagen                               3                                   2008

Trustee                         Sulét Hiatt                              1                                    2010

Superintendent  Don Bartling                                         5                                  2007

Clerk/Treasurer            Diane M. Cartwright                 1                                  2006

Employee Workforce and Retirement System

The District currently employs approximately 234 full-time (116 certificated and 118 classified) employees. The District is a member of the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho.