Panel sends school board bill to House floor

A bill inspired by the confusion that followed West Bonner's successful recall of two of its five board members cleared the State Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

The bill, which passed on a 10-3 vote, was heard by the House State Affairs Committee because of its potential impact on state elections. It now heads to the House floor.

Rep. Mark Sauter said he wrote the bill to address a handful of issues that came up after the successful Aug. 29 recall — what constitutes a quorum, when does a vacancy begin, and what powers do recalled trustees have.

Under Sauter's bill, a quorum would be defined as a majority of the seating members of the board. It would also change state statute to clarify that the vacancy would start as soon as a county clerk and board of county commissioners certified an election.

It would also suspend the ability of recalled board members to make new contractual or financial decisions for a district to prevent them from binding a district to any long-term decisions.

"School boards need to function," Sauter said. "That's what these are all about."

Sauter wrote the bill, which is limited to school districts, after seeing the impact of not having definitive answers to those questions on the district after former board chair Keith Rutledge and vice chair Susan Brown were recalled.

In the wake of the recall, trustee Troy Reinbold, who often aligned himself with the pair, missed multiple meetings, which prevented the district from acting because of the uncertainty. Multiple agencies and attorneys were consulted, but no one could offer any advice because the matter was not clearly addressed in Idaho Code.

"[West Bonner] had a problem with having a quorum for the board to operate," Sauter told the House State Affairs Committee, which heard the bill because of its potential impact on state elections. "They had problems declaring a board vacancy, and then last, they had some issues with having a board meeting scheduled immediately post-recall."

In moving to send H645 to the floor, Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Pocatello, said the bill addresses a real potential problem facing school districts — and offers a real viable solution.

"It specifically prohibits creating new contractual and financial obligations," he said. "I've seen other offices where not necessarily due to a recall but where after they lose an election, there's almost revenge finances."

Sauter said he worked with local school districts, state election officials, and the Idaho Department of Education to craft a bill that helps school districts function without unduly impeding trustees' ability to conduct a district's business.

In West Bonner's case, two members of the five-member board were recalled, which meant all three remaining board members had to attend to constitute a quorum since nothing in state code specified one way or the other. The confusion left the district unable to move forward or conduct business.

While she appreciated the work done to address concerns with an earlier version of the bill, Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, said she still had issues with some of its language as well as its impact on other elections beyond those involving school boards.

"Basically, all other elected officials, when there's a recall, they fill out their term until the results are done," Scott said. "Why are we singling out school board members from all other elected officials?"

With absentee ballots and early voting periods, District 4 Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d'Alene, said he was concerned by the bill's impact on those voters.

"What is the time of the election?" Alfieri asked. "Is it not more than just Election Day?"

Alfieri said he was concerned the bill would set a precedent for other offices beyond school trustees — and strip elected officials of their ability to fulfill their duties.

"You would effectively neuter government because anyone can file for a recall election, perhaps the day after an election occurs," the Coeur d'Alene representative said. "And you've removed that official's ability to act on behalf of the people they've been elected to represent."

However, Sauter said existing election laws and timelines protect board members' ability to act. What his bill would do is prohibit actions that would alter the board's structure or create new contractual or financial obligations for a school district, Sauter said.

"It's really those high-level decisions, and it's only for a very short time," the District 1 representative said, noting that it would not prohibit districts from paying bills or making district decisions.

Voting for the bill were Reps. Brent Crane, Julianne Young, Vito Barbieri, James Holtzclaw, Joe Palmer, Brent Skaug, Christopher Allgood, Jaron Crane, John Gannon, and Theodore Achilles. Voting against were Reps. Heather Scott, Kevin Andrus, and Joe Alfieri.