School board election Tuesday

BONNERS FERRY — Six candidates are vying for two seats on the Boundary County School District 101 Board of Trustees. Election of Zone 1 and Zone 5 Trustees will be on Tuesday, May 21 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Voters must be a resident of Zone 1 or 5 to vote in the election. To determine your zone, contact the Clerk’s office at 267-2242. Voters will vote at their normal precinct polling location.

Zone 1 candidates are Gil Hagen, Elizabeth Sloot and Mike Weland. Zone 5 candidates are Lisa Dirks, Kim Peterson and Nichele Whittaker. All candidates provided responses to a list of questions.

Zone 1

Gil Hagen is the incumbent for Zone 1. He has served on the school board for nine years. He has volunteered and substituted in the schools since 2001. He brings over 43 years of public service to the school board, including being a current member of the NLI board.

Hagen said he wants to continue working with fellow board members and serve our patrons. He hopes to continue with their plan for quality education and accountability.

The biggest issues facing the school district are safe and secure schools and good curriculum. Hagen wants to continue offering a quality education for the district’s school children — kids first , he said.

His favorite thing about the district is the children or young adults.

He has lived in Boundary County for 66 years and is a self-employed grain farmer, hay and cattle owner, and former grain elevator owner.

Elizabeth “Liz” Sloot wants to bring a common sense approach to the board.

Sloot hopes to bring a different view on the economic issues and a different direction on curriculum. She said the biggest issues facing the school district are financial and curriculum.

Her favorite thing about the school district is that it has maintained the small-town atmosphere.

Both of her children attended school here.

Sloot has lived in Boundary County since 1967 and is retired. She and her husband have owned their own businesses and she worked for Southwestern Oklahoma State University for 17 years.

Sloot has been involved in Eagles, Federation of Women ,Mt. Hall PTA, 4-H leader, Cub Scout leader, school chaperone, Cancer Society’s county coordinator, Panhandle Health board member, and is chairperson for the Boundary County Tea Party. She belongs to a bunco group.

Mike Weland is running for the school board because despite everything that is perceived as wrong, BFHS students and grads continue to shine and if he can contribute to and continue that legacy, it would be an honor.

Weland said the biggest issues facing the school district are lack of innovation and imagination on the part of administration and the board. He said the students know and we need to listen.

Weland said he would not bring much to the school board and he may slow things down a little. He hopes to bring imagination and awareness. He said he hopes to accomplish nothing because it has already been accomplished by great students and excellent teachers.

Weland’s favorite thing about the district is its success and its giving and appreciation of every student. He said “slow” and “handicapped” aren’t words you hear and teaching doesn’t try to find square pegs to bolster results by finding square holes. Teachers here take round pegs and show them places where they fit, said Weland.

Weland has lived in Boundary County 22 years and is medically retired. He is married, has one surviving child and five grandchildren, is the newsbfcom publisher and is on the Boundary County Planning and Zoning Board.

Zone 5

Lisa Dirks is the incumbent for Zone 5. She has served on the board for four years and is on the board to help the kids.

She believes the success of the county relies on the success of Naples school and all of the schools in the district.

Dirks is concerned with keeping the outlying schools open; getting rid of the unspoken notion that all of our school are separate; making sure our high school students graduate ready for the real world; and educating the public about what is happening in our school and what is needed to sustain them.

The biggest challenge Dirks believes is the limited funding and resources provided by the state. Dirks said that when making decisions, the budget, funding, state law, community opinion and so much more has to be taken into consideration but it always boils down to providing all 1,400 plus students in the district with the best possible education.

Dirks likes the school district’s family feel and how much everyone cares about each other. Dirks has been a Distinguished Young Women volunteer for 18 years, helps with the local CROP walk for hunger, and volunteers at school functions and for the Badger Boosters.

She has lived in Naples for 35 years, is married and has two school-age children. Dirks and her husband recently purchased an arboriculture business.

Kim Peterson is concerned for the future education the county’s children. She has a strong background in leadership and finance, has served on three non-profit boards and been executive director of one. She says she will make decisions based on facts, not what feels good and she will let the taxpayers know exactly where their dollars are being spent. She promises to read the curriculum that is being taught in our county.

She said she would fight implementation of Common Core, a new nationalized standards testing, saying county taxpayers cannot and should not have to pay what this program would cost.

She likes the school district active community of volunteers, calling them the strongest resource and that she will help organize fundraisers as needed before digging deeper into the taxpayers’ pockets.

She said she will work toward the best long-term interest of all students, keeping stakeholders in mind.

She moved from Sandpoint to Naples in July 2010 with her husband. She has been a business owner for over 20 years. She has two adult children and three grandchildren.

Nichele Whittaker is running for the school board because she wants to be informed and help create an atmosphere where others in the community feel like they are informed. She would like to open up dialogue and encourage others to get involved so that the school board and the community can work together to create the solutions that our school district needs.

Whittaker hopes to bring together schools and community to work with the school board and keep the public informed about its schools.

Funding is the biggest issue facing schools, said Whittaker.

She said she is a team player, easy to work with, and is not afraid to search for new ideas and different possibilities.

She likes that each school is almost like a small community, believes schools are the heart of the community and encourage families to move to the county to raise their children.

Whittaker moved to Boundary County 15 years ago when she married her husband, who was born and raised here. They have three school-aged children. She has worked with children for 11 years and said she is lucky to be able to stay home with her family.