BONNERS FERRY — Driving south to Boise on Tuesday evening — a familiar route after years of advocacy for rural education — Boundary County School District Superintendent Jan Bayer got a phone call that made her pull over.

On the other end of the line was Spencer Barzee, regional director for the Idaho Department of Education, with long-awaited news: the crumbling, 76-year-old Valley View Elementary School will be replaced. The state has awarded the district $13.2 million to build a new facility, he told her.

“I just started crying,” Bayer said. “It took me two hours before I could start driving again. We fought so hard, for the kids, the staff, and the community. It became a reality — the culmination of so much work over the past five years.”

The money comes from House Bill 338, which a

See Full Page