Helena Flats seeks expansion of school
By NANCY KIMBALL
The Daily Inter Lake
Voters in the Helena Flats School District will face an extra choice in Tuesday's general election.
School trustees are asking for a $2.38 million bond issue that would add 11,350 square feet of new space to the school building and cover costs for repairs, upgrades and traffic improvements.
It's the first time in 28 years the school has asked for a construction bond. In 1978, voters passed a $95,000 request.
"It's important to have an environment conducive to learning," Superintendent Paul Jenkins said.
Overcrowded classrooms and hallways, inadequate locker space and a traffic-jammed parking lot don't meet that definition.
"We always have given students a quality education," he said. But enrollment has grown to the point that classrooms in the primary grades and in middle school are crowded beyond state standards, risking accreditation if it continues for long.
"We've had these spikes in the past," Jenkins said of the enrollment upswing, "but this has hit hard now."
New teachers could be needed, he said - one in kindergarten if a push for full-day kindergarten takes hold, and another in the Montessori multi-age setting that includes first, second and third grades.
That's not the only factor in the school board's request.
"The school is not just for students, but for the community," he said of the club meetings and community gatherings held in the building at the corner of Rose Crossing and Helena Flats Road.
The squeeze prompted the board's request.
The 20-year bond, if approved, would add $131.19 a year to the property tax bill for a home with a $100,000 assessed value, $262.39 a year for a $200,000 home, or $393.58 for a $300,000 home.
(The county tax department's assessed value differs from a home's market value. For help figuring it on your own tax bill, contact the school clerk at 257-2301.)
What the community would get for that money are three new classrooms for sixth, seventh and eighth grades, a 3,200-square-foot cafeteria/multipurpose room, library, music/elective room and home economics/science lab. A staff work room and conference room also would go into the addition.
Plans call for remodeling the foyer, existing classrooms, computer lab, administration office and restrooms.
Repairs would be slated for the roof, heating system, windows, fascia and fire-sprinkler system. There also would be some general site improvements.
The three new classrooms would go on the northwest side of the building, extending out from behind the present gym. Traffic flow would be moved to the west parking area.
The design will accommodate future expansion if needed.
If the bond passes, Jenkins said the school probably will have to float a new levy request in 2008 to furnish the new square footage.
Jenkins said 32 new subdivisions within the Helena Flats district are somewhere in the application process right now. In addition, he said there are 101 lots still to be sold.
In that, there is good news and bad news.
More homeowners mean the tax burden will be spread among more property tax bills, lowering each individual's share.
But it also means finding space to school something like 34 to 60 new students. Jenkins came up with those numbers by figuring a quarter of the new lots will translate into a new student at Helena Flats. That makes the expansion even more crucial.
Growth is a hard commodity to nail down, making school planning difficult.
"This is a place where people can afford to move," Jenkins said, "but you never know what housing will get built."
Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com