Boarding school foes speak out

Posted: Friday, Feb 06, 2004 - 08:02:36 am PST
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By JEROME A. POLLOS
Staff writer 

More than 100 opponents raise concerns over safety, pollution of rural property

COEUR d'ALENE -- It was standing room only for opponents of a boarding school on the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's land.

More than 100 residents who live near the proposed site began arriving about two hours before the public hearing. The majority of speakers expressed concerns about the type of students that will be at the facility, safety for neighbors, pollution, and encroachment issues on the surrounding area's rural lifestyle.

"I totally understand why these people are looking to do this," said Dale Rew, whose family owned the land at the proposed school's site. "I really commend them on trying to help people, and I think that's awesome. But I don't think this is the time or this is the place. The people's biggest fear is who's going to be responsible."

Dr. George Ullrich, co-medical director at North Idaho Behavioral Health, and his partner in the proposal, school psychologist Gary Stanton, discussed the misconception of what type of students they would host at the boarding school.

The clientele would be 13- to 17-year-olds "struggling with learning disabilities and education deficiencies." If the conditional use permit is approved for the 60-acre site located on Rew Road near Fighting Creek, the school will accommodate 65 teens and 20 staff members.

Many of the opponents had compared the school to a prison.

"I understand the fears that come up," Ullrich said. "We've come to learn there are very few 40-acre-plus areas that would serve well for the school and have the accessibility and the environment for this holistic program. We have no intention of placing students in this school who should be in locked, or more secure, providers of care."

Stanton stated the school would not accept students with violent pasts, acute behavioral problems, runaways or teens with substance abuse problems.

The few who attended in support of the school cited the need for boarding schools that curtail social and educational problems before they develop into larger issues.

"The gaps in our community are known by no one better than Dr. Ullrich," said William Miller, co-medical director for Kootenai Medical Center's psychiatric services. "He's trying to figure out a way to help our children to be more productive citizens within our community. A program like this is for people who will soon be out in the community and not for those who need additional services and have nowhere else to go."

Over the last two weeks, 65 letters of opposition were filed with Kootenai County's Building and Planning Department along with a number of letters of concern from the Kootenai County sheriff, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and the county's Solid Waste Department.

This is the first conditional use permit for a boarding school Kootenai County has dealt with.

"If this is the first, it seems appropriate to set the standard here in our community," said Sheila West, a resident near the site and a major opponent of the project. "If this is such a lucrative business, there will inevitably be more to come. We realize troubled adolescents are in need of facilities such as this but feel strongly that the proposed site is not appropriate for such a residential, rural setting."

The hearing examiner will submit his report to the Kootenai County Building and Planning Department within two weeks.

Jerome Pollos can be reached at (208) 664-8176, ext. 2021, or jpollos@cdapress.com.