Two school board members face opponents May 20

Incumbent Boundary County School Board members Gil Hagen and Tim Bertling face challengers for the Tuesday, May 20, election.

Hagen, a retired grain, hay and alfalfa farmer, will be challenged by community volunteer Ingrid Elena Pavia and retired electrician and electronic engineer Walter Burrow.

Only residents who live in Zone 1, or the northern section of the county, can vote for one of these three candidates. The election will be held at Mt. Hall Elementary School.

Bertling, a self-employed logger, faces Bonners Ferry Realtor Donna Capurso for Zone 2, which is the Moyie Springs area. Voting will take place at Evergreen Elementary School.

Polls will be open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at both locations.

Hagen was ap-pointed to the school board in July 2004 and elected to a three-year term in May 2005.

“I had a lot of people ask me (to run again),” Hagen said. “I just like working with the teachers and students.”

Hagen volunteers at Mt. Hall School, where he works with sixth-graders on reading.

Pavia, a mother of two school-age children, said she is running to give people a voice. She prides herself on researching matters related to the school district.

Pavia has been involved with the Horizons project, Safe Routes to Schools with Boundary Area Transpor-tation Team and Friends of the Arts. She has served as a volunteer at Valley View Elementary School through the Parent-Teacher Organi-zation and planted the seeds to turn the Mt. Hall Auction into a district-wide fundraiser.

Burrow is making his first bid for public office.

“I feel the school board should cut back and learn to live within its means,” he said. “Times are hard. Everyone is sacrificing. I’m not against education, but for running an extremely tight budget.”

Burrow is on the board of directors for Bee Line water system, a private, non-profit that serves 200 members from Three-Mile to Rock Creek.

Bertling was elected to a two-year term in 2003 and a three-year term in 2005.

He said he chose to run again because there’s a couple of projects he’d like to complete, including the development of a softball field at Bonners Ferry High School. The team currently plays on a field at Boundary County Fairgrounds.

Bertling said he also would like to improve the student-to-teacher ratio. Some teachers have more students than others. He believes a classroom should have an enrollment in the low 20s.

Capurso is running in hopes of improving the school district’s educational system through leadership, fiscal responsibility, a willingness to listen, and a promise to try and create the best environment for children.

Capurso owns Selkirk Mountain Real Estate in Bonners Ferry.