The West Bonner County School District recently recognized five retiring and departing employees during a school board meeting in Priest River, with Superintendent Kim Spacek leading tributes to staff members whose combined decades of service have left a lasting mark on the district.
Each of the five honorees received an Apple Award, a recognition given by the district to acknowledge outstanding contributions by staff. Board Chair Ann Yount addressed the group directly during the meeting, expressing the board’s gratitude for their years of dedication.
“I would like to give them all a round of applause,” Yount said. “We so appreciate the work that all these people have done in the time that they’ve spent in our school district.”
Decades of Service Recognized
Among those honored, library technician Janette Bradbury stood out for the sheer length of her commitment — 36 years with the West Bonner County School District. Her career spans multiple generations of students who passed through district libraries during her tenure.
Network and ISEE administrator Brenna Saccone also received recognition upon her retirement after 27 years with the district. Her role in managing network infrastructure and Idaho Systems for Educational Excellence placed her at the center of the district’s technology operations for nearly three decades.
Three other staff members were also honored at the meeting: Randall Busch, a bus driver who served students across the district’s rural routes; Cheryl Hornby, a special education para-professional whose work directly supported students with disabilities; and Terri Johnson, the district’s child nutrition director, who oversaw meal programs for students throughout her tenure.
A Community Built on Long-Term Commitment
The breadth of roles represented — from the library and special education classrooms to the cafeteria, school buses, and technology infrastructure — reflects the wide variety of staff who keep a rural school district functioning day to day. In a community like Priest River, where many families have deep roots, long-tenured employees often become fixtures of school life across multiple generations.
The West Bonner County School District serves students across a wide geographic area in North Idaho, and retaining qualified staff in specialized roles such as special education support and network administration can be a persistent challenge for rural districts. The careers of Bradbury and Saccone, stretching to 36 and 27 years respectively, speak to a level of institutional loyalty that is increasingly rare.
Superintendent Spacek’s decision to formally recognize each honoree at a public board meeting underscores the district’s effort to acknowledge the human investment behind its day-to-day operations — a sentiment echoed by Yount’s remarks from the board chair’s seat.
For students and families across the Priest River area, the departure of long-serving staff like these five employees marks the close of a chapter. Their contributions — whether ensuring students arrived safely, were fed, could access books, or stayed connected to a functioning school network — shaped the daily experience of thousands of young people over the years. The Priest River Lamanna Class of 2026 is among the last groups of students to have benefited from their combined service.
The district has not yet announced replacement hires for the departing positions.