[Vision2020] Stop Passing the Buck on Facilities Lawsuit

[Bev Bafus]

Some more about school facilities:

My oldest attended kindergarten in the church building next door to the
school in Bovill.  If you dropped a crayon on one side of the room, it
rolled all the way to the other side.  The kids had to wear coats all winter
because the wind blew through the walls.

She attended the first few years of grade school at Bovill.  To get to the
multi-purpose room, one had to pass through either the boys or girls
bathrooms.  This situation was a bit embarassing for parents on function
nights - the dads usually followed their girls, and the moms their boys, not
realizing the situation.

She attended the last few years of grade school in Deary.  The kids couldn't
leave anything on the shelves along one wall in case it rained, the water
came in and ran down the wall.  Music was in an old portable with a porch
that was pulling off the building, and was completely unsafe.  One had to be
careful where one sat on the old built-in bleachers, because the nails were
popping up, and that tended to hurt the backside.

She spent her Junior High and High school years in Troy, where classes were
held in the old building.  Having been built in 1903, it was the "poster
child" for bad school buildings.  The wiring went out in the gym one day.  I
still have a section in my desk drawer - the insulation is burnt clear
through.  One time a student merely leaned his head against a window and the
glass shattered.  The glass was actually load bearing.  Another time they
were in class when the ceiling started to come down from the weight of the
library upstairs.

Her second year of college was at the U of I.  This was before the new
classroom center.  One of her classes was held in a hallway.  Another was in
a basement storage room in Wallace complex.

Needless to say, she doesn't have very fond memories of Idaho school
buildings.  Most of these things have been fixed today, but not in time for
her or her classmates.  Luckily, no one was injured because of these
buildings, but that was only because of the grace of God.

Thank you

Bev Bafus

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 12:45 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Stop Passing the Buck on Facilities Lawsuit


>From today's (May 9, 2008) Moscow-Pullman Daily News -

-------------------------------------------

OUR VIEW: Stop passing the buck on facilities lawsuit
By Murf Raquet

There are those who felt the lengthy school facilities lawsuit was settled
when a district court judge ruled Idaho was constitutionally obligated to
provide the money to districts to build and maintain safe school
facilities.

Many held their breath when the inevitable appeal process started and
finally held out hope when the case went to the state Supreme Court.

Bupkis, nada, zero. That's what Idaho taxpayers received.

Now, a federal judge wants to take another look at his recent ruling in
the case. His decision will do little to settle the case that's taken too
long already.

The lawsuit was filed in the last century and now is 18 years old. Someone
born the year it was filed would be graduating this spring from one of the
schools with inadequate facilities.

We don't expect the wheels of justice to spin fast. Thoroughness is
greatly appreciated, but taking so long to determine how to fix the
funding problem since the case was decided at the district level is a
blatant example of buck passing.

In 2005, the case arrived at the state Supreme Court. The justices sided
with the districts, and most of us thought the case was finally settled
and lawmakers would set about what they should have been doing for years -
funding school buildings.

Wrong again. The justices offered no road map to fix the problem.

In June, the districts filed suit against the high court asking for the
remedy phase in the case.

In February, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill sort of decided in
favor of the districts when he refused a request by the Supreme Court to
dismiss the case.

Last week the good judge announced he will reconsider his ruling. He then
said whatever he decides, the case will end up in the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.

What began as a question of constitutional interpretation has turned into
a political hot potato.

Between the courts and the Legislature, the ongoing dispute should be
settled soon. Idahoans cannot be expected to endure facilities lawsuit,
the next generation.

-------------------------------------------

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"People who ridicule others while hiding behind anonymous monikers in chat-
room forums are neither brave nor clever."

- Latah County Sheriff Wayne Rausch (August 21,
2007)

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