Troy Reinbold resigns from West Bonner School Board

Troy Reinbold, one of the West Bonner School Board trustees who supported the controversial former superintendent Branden Durst last year, has resigned.

Board Chair Margaret Hall announced at a board meeting last week that Reinbold’s resignation is due to work and family obligations. He owns a small construction business.

“I do want to thank him for his service and greatly understand that he had a lot of commitments he was dealing with,” Hall said.

She expects the board to officially accept his resignation and declare a vacancy at a special board meeting on Wednesday.

Reinbold, who was re-elected to a second four-year term last November, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

He was known for having inconsistent attendance and sometimes called in to board meetings over the phone. After fellow trustees Keith Rutledge and Susan Brown were recalled last year, Reinbold missed several meetings in a row, which prevented the reduced three-member board from reaching a quorum and moving forward with appointing new trustees. Some parents speculated that Reinbold was intentionally filibustering since he generally voted in line with Rutledge and Brown.

Reinbold said at the time that some of the absences were due to a family emergency.

Tim Hemphill, a captain with the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, said that after receiving complaints related to omission of public duty, the sheriff’s office consulted with the county prosecutor to determine whether that could be a crime.

Before that question could be answered, however, Reinbold started going to the meetings again and a formal criminal investigation was never opened, Hemphill said.

Reinbold won re-election in November with more than 60% of the vote.