Funding education

District 5 asking community for help supporting school programs

As the May 8 school elections draw nearer, more than one voter has questioned School District 5's request for a $634,547 high-school levy. Why build a new high school, they wonder, if there isn't enough money to run it?

It's a fair question, but the assumption behind it is not entirely accurate, Superintendent Darlene Schottle said.

If it passes, the levy won't be used only at Glacier High School. The new, 243,000-square-foot building contributed to the need for a levy, she said, but the entire high-school district - which includes LASER School and Bridge Academy - needs funding.

"Those are the reasons it increased, but it's the budget as a whole we had a shortfall in," Schottle said.

This year's $14.26 million general fund budget will increase to about $14.98 million in the 2007-2008 school year, simply due to increased enrollment, District Clerk Todd Watkins said. He estimates annual enrollment growth is about 1 to 2 percent.

The increase isn't enough to cover next year's $15.62 million total budget, however.

The difference is the more than $634,000 levy, which officials hope will pass this spring. If it does, annual property taxes will increase by about $40 on homes with a $200,000 market value.

The levy accounts for about 4 percent of the total budget, which isn't built school-by-school, Watkins said, but as a whole.

Building programs at Glacier High School is a significant portion of the budget.

"The biggest piece is the duplication of activities," Watkins said.

With a new high school, the district needs twice as many coaches, assistant coaches and equipment. The 2007-2008 athletics budget is about $945,000, up 85 percent from this year's $510,000 budget.

Other extracurricular activities, including band and speech and debate, contribute another $267,000, a 67 percent increase. Together, athletics and activities comprise about 7.7 percent of the total budget, compared to 4.7 percent this year.

Staff salaries and benefits account for about $12.1 million, 77.6 percent of next year's budget. This year's total was 11.2 million, 78.8 percent of the budget.

The high-school district will add the equivalent of at least 19 full-time positions to fully staff all its schools. New positions include the equivalent of six or seven classroom teachers, two secretaries, one information-technology person, one maintenance job, one groundskeeper and eight custodians.

The district will be stretching its custodial staff slightly, Watkins said. School districts often determine the number of janitors needed according to total square footage. One custodian per 22 or 23 square feet is typical.

Kalispell will have a staff equivalent to one custodian per 28 square feet, he said. Instead of individual janitors assigned specific areas in buildings, however, they will work in teams, which will help them cover the larger area.

The rumor that the existing Flathead custodial staff will be asked to cover Glacier without any new employees isn't true, Schottle said.

Neither, she said, is the rumor that the new high school won't open this fall if the levy fails. It has to; with the introduction of a freshman class, Flathead doesn't have room for the district's high-school students. Officials anticipate 1,000 students at Glacier and 1,200 at Flathead this fall.

The school will open regardless of what happens May 8, Schottle said. However, if the levy fails, officials will have to make cuts across the district. There has been no discussion yet about where those cuts might occur.

In the elementary district, which will also request a levy this spring, a tight budget has already forced administrators to make reductions. After countless hours debating where those cuts might take place, officials found very few options.

Suggestions include cutting one nursing position and eliminating the district-wide gifted-and-talented program in favor of site-based plans. Even if it passes, the elementary levy, which the school board has yet to set, won't be enough to keep every existing program in place.

It's a headache the high-school district hopes to avoid, Schottle said.

"Frankly, we don't want to put people through that if we don't have to," she said. "It becomes very emotional."

Planning for those cuts prior to the election could be a good thing, Schottle said. It would let people know what might be sacrificed if the levy fails. However, voters might also perceive that planning as a threat: Approve the levy, or else.

"It's a no-win situation," she said.

Schottle said she believes it is "an unlikely event" the levy will fail.

The levy is the second part of requests put to voters in 2004. In November that year, voters approved $50.7 million in school construction bonds, $39.8 million of which went toward high-school projects, including Glacier's construction.

At that time, school officials let the public know that the bonds would build the schools, but levies certainly would be needed to open and run them.

District 5 did not request a levy for two years after that, as trustees worked to show fiscal responsibility after winning the bond vote. Last year, its request for a $350,765 levy failed by 80 votes.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com