SANDPOINT — Leadership shifted on the Lake Pend Oreille School Board Tuesday evening as a retired teacher filled the trustee vacancy left after the former board chair resigned in the fall.
Longtime trustee Geraldine Lewis resigned in November to spend more time with her grandchildren, according to the Bonner County Daily Bee.
Since then, Vice Chair Lonnie Williams has taken charge. Williams, the longest-serving trustee on the current board, was unanimously elected chair Tuesday.
Trustees Tonya Sherman and Jalon Peters, both elected in 2022, nominated themselves for vice chair. Peters received no votes for the position other than his own. Sherman was selected for the position with a 4-1 vote, with Peters voting in opposition.
The votes were among the first that retired teacher and coach David DeMers cast after being selected to replace Lewis.
Most people affiliated with the school district already know DeMers even if it’s in name only. The track at Sandpoint High School bares his name.
DeMers was born and raised in Sandpoint. He left for college but quickly returned to the area after graduation. He worked at the district for over 30 years as a teacher, athletic director and coach before retiring in 2018.
His ties to the district remain strong with a daughter teaching at the middle school and grandchildren set to start school soon.
“I was always one that wanted to give back to the community,” DeMers said of his reason for applying to the vacancy.
He wants to ensure the next generation of students have the opportunities that he had in public education, he said.
There was only one other application for the vacancy, James Pound III, who moved to the area about a decade ago after a career in Alaska working for the state legislature.
