Last Straw:They put a man with no classroom experience in charge of a school district

The record

• Branden Durst, a former Idaho Freedom Foundation analyst, was appointed West Bonner School District superintendent without the classroom experience the State Board of Education requires.¹
• The board scrapped the district's existing curriculum.¹
• Sen. Scott Herndon personally drove Durst to his job interview.²
• Herndon spent party money fighting the recall of the board members who hired Durst.²
• Voters recalled two trustees. Durst resigned.¹³
• As superintendent, Durst replaced the district's business manager with Melissa Reilly, the wife of Dave Reilly.⁴
• Melissa Reilly had given Durst nearly $1,000 in in-kind support in his 2022 campaign.⁴
• An Idaho Supreme Court justice said the Idaho Freedom Foundation was using the district to dismantle public education.³

Who

• Branden DurstThe superintendent.
• Scott HerndonDrove him to the interview.
• Dave ReillyHis wife became the district's business manager.

Sources

1. The Influential Conservative Group Making it Harder for Idaho Districts to Fix Their SchoolsProPublica / Idaho Statesman · April 2024 (archive)
2. Dist. 1 Sen. Scott Herndon continues with dirty tricks as BCRCC chairmanSandpoint Reader · May 2023 (archive)
3. Extreme right-wing radicals tend to stick togetherBonner County Daily Bee · September 2023 (archive)
4. How a new Idaho superintendent is tapping far-right connections to refashion a school districtInvestigateWest · July 2023 (archive)