State to inspect Valley View Thursday

BONNERS FERRY — State officials will be inspecting Valley View Elementary today to examine the school’s condition. The move was prompted after two school bonds failed to get enough votes to rebuild the school.

Rather than putting before the voters for a third time a school bond for Valley View, Boundary County School board voted at its January meeting to follow the recommendations of the district's facilities committee to ask the state how to proceed.

Teresa Rae, vice-chair for BCSD, told the Herald that the state was to inspect the school last year, but that was put on hold to see if the proposed bond would pass.

Rae said the question the district is asking the state is “is it as bad as we think.” There is a concern from the board that BCSD is being left behind as other school districts across the state have seen improvements to facilities from capital improvement projects.

At this time, Rae said the district is in “uncharted territory” in regard to the inspection and school improvement. There is concern on how to fix the school’s plumbing, which was put in more than 70 years ago.

“At what time do you stop putting money into something,” she added.

She said the biggest concern is safety at the elementary school, noting that several times a day, kindergarten students have to cross the road to access the main school’s facility. This is especially difficult for students with disabilities and walkers, she said.

Rae is not sure on the timeline for receiving the inspection report from the state.

The facilities committee was faced with three choices: leave the school as is, run a plant facility levy or run a bond. The committee chose none of the options, instead recommending the district talk to state officials.

BCSD trustees and Superintendent Jan Bayer have spoken of a possible catastrophic failure at Valley View, particularly in the roof or sewer lines, for more than two years now.

During the week of Oct. 17, 2022, sinks in the girls bathroom backed up into the floor drain, and spilled across the bathroom floor. Replacing the pipe was one of the many issues that was to be addressed in the proposed school bond to replace the school. The bond failed twice, the first time in March and again in August 2022.

Bayer has frequently said that if there was a catastrophic incident at Valley View, such as plumbing issues that would cause the school to close, Valley View students would be moved to the Boundary County Middle School. This would result in middle school students being moved to the high school and double shifting would return with both schools sharing the BFHS facility.