Lakeland School District Still Without Superintendent as Board Racks Up Meetings, Legal Costs
The Lakeland School District in North Idaho remains without permanent leadership after months of board turmoil, escalating legal expenses, and a string of meetings that have yet to produce results for the Kootenai County community it serves.
Leadership Vacuum Stretches Into Months
The district’s board of trustees has cycled through three superintendents over the past four years. The most recent departure, Superintendent Rusty Taylor, was placed on paid administrative leave roughly six weeks ago without any public explanation. Since that removal, the board has held 31 meetings and 18 executive sessions in the current year alone — yet has made no measurable progress toward hiring a permanent replacement.
Teacher contract negotiations have also been complicated by the upheaval. Trustees began the process with pre-negotiation meetings during which they rewrote the existing agreement before formal talks could begin.
Legal Fees Replace Standard Records Practices
Among the more unusual developments: the district brought in a Boise law firm, Anderson, Julian, and Hull, to handle public records requests — a function normally handled by the district’s board clerk at far lower cost. The firm billed approximately $2,100 for a single set of email records, charging $140 per hour for redactions.
Under Idaho Public Records Law, when an attorney is required to make redactions, the district is only permitted to charge the hourly rate of its lowest-paid attorney. Anderson, Julian, and Hull employs more than 20 attorneys, according to the firm’s website, raising questions about how the billing rate was determined.
The contrast with recent district practice is stark. As recently as January, the board’s own clerk handled email redactions at no charge to requesters. A batch of emails between board members and Taylor from mid-March was provided at no cost — yet subsequent requests have been delayed, fully redacted, or denied altogether.
In one instance, a records request was not answered within the legally required three-day window and was then denied outright. A separate request for district tort claims received no response for ten days. When a follow-up inquiry was made, a representative of the law firm said they had assumed the district’s clerk had already responded. A request for the contract between the district and the law firm, submitted more than seven business days ago, has not yet been fulfilled.
Impact on Kootenai County Residents and Taxpayers
Lakeland School District serves families across the northern reaches of Kootenai County and into Bonner County, and the prolonged instability is drawing scrutiny from parents, teachers, and community members alike. Former superintendents and community members have previously called on trustees to resign, citing what some described as an “out of control” governance situation.
Adding urgency to the situation, the district has a plant facilities levy vote scheduled for next week. With the district’s leadership future unresolved and public trust eroding, voter appetite for additional spending authorization remains an open question.
For comparison, other Kootenai County school districts and municipalities have managed leadership transitions without prolonged governance breakdowns. The contrast is difficult to ignore for local taxpayers watching legal bills mount while classroom leadership remains absent. For statewide education coverage, Idaho News has tracked similar district-level governance stories across the state.
What Comes Next
The levy vote next week will serve as an early test of community confidence in the board. Whether trustees move to name a permanent superintendent — or at minimum provide a transparent public accounting of Taylor’s departure — may determine how Lakeland families respond at the ballot box. Residents seeking updates on district legal notices can review the latest published legals for Kootenai County.