Trustees threaten to move activities

By Paul Boring, Western News Reporter

Libby school events scheduled to take place in the Memorial Center will be moved elsewhere if the Kootenai Heritage Council does not rethink its decision to charge attendees, the Libby School Board decided on Tuesday at a regular meeting.

The Kootenai Heritage Council recently informed the public of plans to charge $3 per person or $10 per family for each of the 20 school events scheduled this school year. KHC board member Steve Lethrud said the overall cost of utilities has become substantial, as the number of event dates has increased.

³The Kootenai Heritage Council is not trying to make money, we are simply trying to keep the facility open,² Lethrud said.

For people unable to pay at the door for whatever reason, an envelope would be handed out to allow the person to send in payment at a later date.

³We¹re not going to turn anyone away from the door,² said KHC board member Rich Burns. ³That¹s the last thing we want to do.²

School administrators at the meeting acknowledged that charging a fee had been brought up as one of a few possible options to help KHC recoup money, but agreed that they believed no definite decision had been made.

³Let¹s come back to the table and discuss this thing,² said Libby High School Principal Rik Rewerts.

Although letters were sent home with students, in some cases, the information did not reach the intended destination and the news came as a shock to parents.

³This is going to something I thought the community owned, not back to the school,² said one meeting attendee.

³We shouldn¹t be held hostage to keep this place open,² said another concerned parent.

Board chairperson Teri Kelly made the distinction between the mandatory obligations of band or choir members, and students participating in extra-curricular activities such as football.

³This is different because kids are required to go to concerts to get their grade,² Kelly said.

Deanna Shaw-Berget pointed out the high percentage of low-income families with children in elementary and middle school.

³You¹re shifting the economic burden to those two groups,² she said. ³Is it fair to put that burden on that population?²

Trustee Christine Heinlein said that increasing parent participation has been a primary goal of the board, adding that charging money to attend school band and choir concerts hinders rather than promotes participation.

³This is directly contradictory to what one of our main goals is,² Heinlein said.

If KHC insists on imposing the fee, the trustees voted to move the events back to the respective school gymnasiums.

³We¹re not going to pay and if we have to, we will go back to the gym,² Kelly said.

A middle school band concert is scheduled for Oct. 7 at the Memorial Center. The Kootenai Heritage Council board members met on Wednesday morning and decided to lift the fee for the first concert until an agreement can be made or a compromise can be reached between the schools and the Memorial Center leaser.