State Ed board OKs Mountain View School District split

In May, Idaho County voters will decide whether to split Mountain View School District into two separate districts.

The Idaho State Board of Education approved the Mountain View School District Board of Trustees’ request to divide the district on Wednesday.

Mountain View School District board member Tyler Harrington said during Wednesday’s meeting that the current district is more than 8,000 square miles in size. It currently serves five schools in Elk City, Grangeville and Kooskia and has a total student population of 1,062 students.

Grangeville schools have the largest population with 800 students. Harrington said people in the smaller towns outside Grangeville feel like they’re “second-hand citizens” compared to Grangeville and want more control over their schools.

“This has been an issue for years,” he said.

Harrington said he’s heard some people say they will never vote for a Mountain View School District levy again because of this tension between the schools.

If approved, the district would be split into the Grangeville School District and the Clearwater School District.

Grangeville School District would have Grangeville Elementary School and Grangeville High School.

Clearwater School District would have Elk City School, Clearwater Valley Elementary and Clearwater Valley Junior-Senior High School.