West Bonner County School District

As the West Bonner school board welcomed new trustees and a new interim superintendent, the atmosphere at this week's meeting was noticeably genial and relaxed.

Interim superintendent Joe Kren carries around a yellow notepad with lists of items that need to be addressed. He’s on page seven.

The West Bonner School District gained positive traction Monday with two milestones: Trustees hired an experienced interim superintendent and filled two board vacancies.

The trustees appointed Joe Kren to a 90-day contract as superintendent and agreed to hire legal counsel to negotiate the terms of an unnamed person's resignation. It was presumed to be Branden Durst, but trustees never said his name in the open meeting.

The West Bonner County Sheriff’s department is investigating a criminal complaint against West Bonner School District trustee Troy Reinbold for nonfeasance as a public official.

Anxiety about which trustees will control the board continues to swirl through the surrounding towns and backroads of the remote Idaho Panhandle district.

The board’s decision means West Bonner does not have an official superintendent, and the state Department of Education will not fund Durst’s salary. The district will have to cover it.

An attorney and a board member expressed concern the meeting's action items would violate Idaho open meetings law and a recent court order.

The order, signed by Magistrate Judge Lori Meulenberg, was issued a little more than an hour before the scheduled start of what was shaping up to be a significant meeting for the West Bonner district’s five-member board of trustees.

School levies in Kootenai and Bonner counties were winning after final vote counts on Tuesday. So were bond issues in the two counties.In the case of the…