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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Moscow</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">School District</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
has frozen its budget (and put several teachers on notice, I might add) as a
precautionary measure, should Dr. Weitz’ hissy fit be successful.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>This has been explained several times
right here on the Viz. It is what big boys and girls do, <st1:City w:st="on">Arnold</st1:City>,
when the possibility exists that the money they were promised (in this case, by
the people of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moscow</st1:place></st1:City>)
might not be realized.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>On May 25 many teachers’ contracts
are up for renewal. As a matter of precaution . . .<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Why does this sound like old news to
everybody but <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arnold</st1:place></st1:City>?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Seeya round town, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Moscow</st1:City></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Tom Hansen<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Moscow, Idaho<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>"I think one of the best ways to
support education is to make successful private schools like Logos prosper
through tax exemption."<br>
<br>
- Donovan Arnold (July 11, 2005)</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
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face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Donovan Arnold
[mailto:donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com] <br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Saturday, May 19, 2007 9:14
AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Tom Hansen; Vision 2020<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Why did MSD freeze its
budget???</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>"In other developments, the school district has frozen its budget
while the legal proceedings edge forward."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>If MSD is so certain that it was correct in how it collects its revenue
as being legal, why would it do something so harsh as to freeze "its
budget while the legal proceedings edge forward." They are not required to
do this by law. Why would they damage kids like this for every little meritless
lawsuit filed against them? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The fact appears to me, that MSD has chosen to fire teachers and make
life hard on the students unnecessarily.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Best,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Donovan <br>
<br>
<b><i><span style='font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>Tom Hansen
<thansen@moscow.com></span></i></b> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #1010FF 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt;
margin-left:3.75pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>>From today's (May 19, 2007) Moscow-Pullman Daily News -<br>
<br>
----------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
School district files legal response to lawsuit<br>
MSD outlines defense, seeks dismissal of suit filed by Weitz <br>
<br>
By Kate Baldwin, Daily News staff writer<br>
<br>
Saturday, May 19, 2007 - Page Updated at 12:00:00 AM<br>
<br>
The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Moscow</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">School District</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> filed a legal answer Thursday
that poses 18<br>
defenses and asks for dismissal of a lawsuit that challenges up to $7.6<br>
million in indefinite supplemental levy funding.<br>
<br>
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moscow</st1:place></st1:City> dentist
Gerald Weitz filed the lawsuit against the district May 3 in<br>
Latah County District Court. His lawsuit contends that the district's<br>
indefinite levy - approved by voters in 1992 - should be invalid because the<br>
election allegedly did not meet the statutory requirements of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Idaho</st1:place></st1:State> law. He<br>
also argues that any subsequent levy increases that followed the 1992<br>
election should be invalid. This includes the $1.97 million increase that<br>
voters approved March 27.<br>
<br>
The main point of the answer to the lawsuit is simple, said the district's<br>
attorney Brian Julian, of Boise-firm <st1:City w:st="on">Anderson</st1:City>,
Julian and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hull</st1:place></st1:City>,
LLP.<br>
<br>
"You can't wait 10 to 15 years to complain about an election," he
said.<br>
<br>
Elections have to be contested in "a very narrow time frame," Julian
said.<br>
<br>
Weitz's suit covers multiple elections from 1992 to 2007 but Julian contends<br>
only the 2007 election falls within the state's 40-day requirement for<br>
challenging elections. Even at that, Julian argues that Weitz may not have<br>
met the state's requirements because he alleges that Weitz didn't use the<br>
proper statute to contest the election.<br>
<br>
"This is a very technical area of law," said Julian, who described
the<br>
district's response to the lawsuit as "comprehensive" because it uses
all of<br>
the statutory and common law defenses available.<br>
<br>
Julian said the Legislature has created certain methods to contest elections<br>
but a person has to strictly comply with every requirement in order to do<br>
so. Otherwise allowing deviations from the requirements - like the time<br>
element - would disenfranchise voters, he said.<br>
<br>
Voting "is perhaps our most fundamental right that we enjoy as
citizens," he<br>
said. "It is an interesting thing No one likes to have their vote thrown
out<br>
in any manner."<br>
<br>
Beyond legal minutiae, Julian disagrees with the premise of the suit.<br>
<br>
"We believe the bond election was absolutely properly put before the
public<br>
and there is nothing inherently wrong with the method used," he said.<br>
<br>
Julian said the district's defense focuses mainly on opposing the<br>
injunction, claiming different statutory defenses and raising the question<br>
of whether Weitz had appropriate standing to bring the lawsuit.<br>
<br>
Weitz did not return repeated calls seeking comment. His attorney, Brian<br>
Thie, of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moscow</st1:place></st1:City>,
could not be reached for comment.<br>
<br>
In other developments, the school district has frozen its budget while the<br>
legal proceedings edge forward. A court date has not yet been set, although<br>
Julian expects the case to move forward on a rapid trial schedule.<br>
<br>
Julian said he's waiting for the assignment of a new judge after Latah<br>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">District Court</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> Judge John Stegner
recused himself from the case late<br>
Thursday.<br>
<br>
Though community members have begun asking about the possibility of<br>
mediation, Julian said he didn't expect it to happen.<br>
<br>
"I don't think this is the type of case where mediation would really
work,"<br>
he said.<br>
<br>
Julian said there have been no discussions of it, but the lawsuit has just<br>
started.<br>
<br>
----------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
Seeya round town, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moscow</st1:place></st1:City>.<br>
<br>
Tom Hansen<br>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Moscow</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Idaho</st1:State></st1:place><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
=======================================================<br>
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serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br>
http://www.fsr.net <br>
mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>
=======================================================<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</blockquote>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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