Bonds sold for schools

Kalispell school trustees will have the money in the bank on March 15 to begin a new high school, renovate Flathead High and expand and renovate Kalispell Junior High.

The first issue of the school's general obligation bonds was set into motion last week.

D.A. Davidson submitted the successful bid to sell the high school bonds, at 4.127 percent interest, and Piper Jaffray submitted the low bid for the elementary bonds, at 3.99 percent.

Davidson was the lowest bidder among five firms competing for the high school bonds. Piper Jaffray won out among eight firms in the elementary bidding.

Last November, voters approved a $39.8 million high school plan and another $10.9 million for the junior high. Subsequently, District Clerk Todd Watkins advised selling the bonds at two separate times.

Since the full amount will not be needed up front, the high school and elementary districts can save on interest by issuing the largest portion now and the remainder later, probably in spring 2006. The timing depends on when the money actually is needed to cover construction expenses or when bond rates start creeping back up.

As a result, $29.9 million of the high school bonds and $9.9 million of the elementary bonds are being sold now.

Superintendent Darlene Schottle said the school will have an investment strategy for the bond proceeds by March 15.

At a special meeting Monday night, trustees cleared the way for D.A. Davidson to participate in the bidding process. The firm handles the district's investments, so officials wanted to be sure none of the trustees had reservations about what could have appeared to be a conflict of interest.

They gave their unanimous approval for the firm to compete in both high school and elementary bidding.

Here's a progress report on some areas of the building plans:

. The first major expense to come out of the bond sales will be $600,000 for real estate.

Early last month, trustees voted to buy a permanent easement on a 60-acre parcel of state land at the corner of West Reserve Drive and Stillwater Road, north of Kalispell and due west of the new Lowe's store.

But a surprise in an access road for the long-planned U.S. 93 bypass right-of-way prompted the school board to add a condition to its purchase agreement.

Trustees made their vote contingent on boundaries being redrawn to restore seven acres that the access road and its 180-foot easement carved off the northeast corner of the school's land. By the time the school's purchase plan went to the State Land Board a week or so later, the seven acres had been restored to the south and west.

Schottle said the Land Board approved the purchase.

. The high school district boosted its construction budget from about $136,000 to around $280,000 to connect to city sewer and water at the new site.

City of Kalispell officials think the school is estimating too high on the $280,000 figure, maintenance and transportation director Chuck Cassidy said. It's based on "equivalent residential units," he said, but will be confirmed after the city reviews final architectural drawings.

The developer of a proposed housing subdivision at the northwest corner of West Reserve and Stillwater is extending sewer and water from the Lowe's property to the new subdivision. It runs along the north edge of the school property and is what the high school will tap into for utilities.

The school will pay a $120,000 latecomer's fee for the use it will get from that new line. In addition, Cassidy said, connection fees will be about $82,000 for water and $77,000 for sewer.

. A biomass boiler could become one component of the new high school's heating system if a grant comes through to help pay for it.

A biomass boiler could help keep a lid on heating costs, support the local timber industry by buying fuel here, and could serve as a good teaching tool, Schottle said.

. The new high school will have a 3,500-seat gym with seating on two levels. As the project progresses, money will determine whether the gym opens with all the upper-level seats in place.

. There will be two separate fine-arts areas instead of one large shared space: a black box theater for theatrical productions and another area for music performances. Teachers in the music and drama departments at Flathead High reported that sound and lighting work better in smaller, separate areas, and that theater in the round is a better teaching and performance tool.

. Central kitchen facilities for the whole district will be incorporated into the new high school's design.

Given the floor space needed, Flathead High's kitchen could be remodeled, the junior high expansion could accommodate it or the new high school could be designed for it. When access and construction costs were considered, the new high school was the most feasible place for it.

The Flathead High kitchen now prepares and delivers meals for the entire K-12 district. After the new high school is added to the mix, the space and equipment requirements to take meals off campus eliminates that option.

The school also is considering a $100,000 cook-chill kitchen, a piece of equipment that eventually could bring substantial savings through reduced labor input. It is not now in the budget.

. The high school redistricting process should begin in another six weeks or so. It involves drawing boundary lines for Flathead High School and the new high school.

To prepare, trustee Mark Lalum told his colleagues Monday night that he will start crunching numbers to provide data on current population distribution, projected growth, likely student numbers and other factors.

The committee to draw those boundaries has not been assembled yet, but will combine staff, parents and community members from each of the outlying elementary districts that send students to high school in Kalispell.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com