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<DIV><FONT size=4>Phil, et al,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>On May 4, 2005 you wrote the following about the Boundary
County School District:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=4><EM>This is what happens
when a brand new high school is built and no money to maintain it. O &
M money. <STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000><FONT color=#0000ff>Keep in mind this is
the second time this bond has come up.</FONT> <FONT size=6>It will fail
again.</FONT></FONT></STRONG></EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face="Times New Roman"><EM>If our School District and
Trustees were doing their job properly and did a simple 10% cut back</EM> <EM>of
expenditures and overhead, we would have the dollars to build a brand new high
school and for it to run and do repairs on the elementary
schools.</EM> </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4>------------------------------------------------------------</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><FONT
size=3></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000
size=+3><B></B></FONT> </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+3><B>Boundary County
identifies cuts if school levy vote doesn't pass<BR><BR></B></FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1>From staff reports<BR>May 4,
2005<BR><BR>Boundary County's School Board has approved a list of cuts to be
made if voters reject a second-attempt Maintenance and Operations Levy on May
31.<BR><BR>The proposed levy, which would collect $799,700 a year for two years,
is about $185,000 less annually than the levy expiring this
spring....<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1> </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1><FONT face=Verdana>Sorry
Phil, see the news article posted below.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1><FONT
face=Verdana></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1><FONT
face=Verdana>Despite the fact that Boundary County is far, far more
impoverished and contains a much high percentage of ultra-right wing and/or
religious crackpots than the Moscow School District, Boundary County citizens
again ponied up to keep the future of their children brighter. Although
the district will be forced into a four day school week, the system will still
be able to provide a basic, enriching,
giving-hope-to-those-who-wish-to-succeed education.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1><FONT
face=Verdana></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1><FONT face=Verdana>I
attended Boundary schools from the fourth grade through high school. My
family was on the extreme lower edge of poverty. I am very,
very grateful to the Boundary County citizens who sacrificed greatly so
that many of us were able to climb out of the abyss of extreme poverty. I
know that many of my former classmates feel the same way toward their
benefactors. About 60% of my high school graduating class went on to
college or other educational institutions.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=+1><FONT
face=Verdana></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=#000000 size=+1><FONT face=Verdana>
<DIV><BR>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A><BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>_______________________________________________</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>From <EM>The Spokesman-Review</EM>, June 1, 2005</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<H2>Boundary voters pass school levy, avert cuts </H2>
<H4 class=deck>Measure saves extracurricular activities, but four-day week
stays</H4>
<P>
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<TR>
<TD class=storyinset align=right>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=200 border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD
style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 8px; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 8px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 8px; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 8px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid">
<H5></H5>
<H5>Saved </H5>
<P>The vote likely rescued Naples Elementary from
closure.</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></P>
<P class=byline><SPAN class=name><A
href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/bylines.asp?bylinename=Taryn Brodwater">Taryn
Brodwater</A></SPAN><BR>Staff writer<BR>June 1, 2005</P><!---------Code for Big Ads-------------------><!---------End Code for Big Ads------------------->
<P>"Vote Yes for Kids" was the message levy supporters carried as they walked
the Kootenai River bridge in Bonners Ferry on Tuesday.</P>
<P>Voters in the Boundary County School District took heed.</P>
<P>A last-ditch effort to save everything from extracurricular activities to a
small, rural elementary school was met with success. A supplemental, two-year
levy was approved with <STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000 size=5>57
percent</FONT></STRONG> of the vote Tuesday, sparing the district from bone-deep
budget cuts. The vote was 2,003 in favor and 1,494 against, said district board
chairman Tina Wilson.</P>
<P>
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<TR>
<TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"We are proud of our community for stepping up to
the plate," Wilson said. "Everybody was working together."</P>
<P>The levy failed by 82 votes when put before voters on March 29. Board
members, who initially had said there wouldn't be a second try, relented, rather
than make the deep cuts.</P>
<P>The supplemental maintenance and operations levy will collect $799,700 a year
for the next two years. The owner of a home with $100,000 taxable value will pay
about $149.51 a year – a reduction of $34.64 from the expiring levy.</P>
<P>Because $185,000 less is being collected each year of the levy, the district
has already made some money-saving moves, including shortening the school week
to four days.</P>
<P>The vote appears to have saved Naples Elementary, a small-town school slated
for closure if the levy had failed. It also saved school sports and other
extracurricular activities, secured the purchase of new textbooks to replace
outdated ones, and spared more than $30,000 in technology funding. A handful of
positions, including those of rural elementary principals, would have been
eliminated.</P></DIV></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>