Voters to decide bonds

By KRISTI ALBERTSON - The Daily Inter Lake

During the next two weeks, Bigfork voters will decide the fate of its public school buildings.

The Bigfork School District is requesting $16.6 million in bonds to renovate and expand elementary and high school buildings. The existing facilities are outdated, crowded and inefficient, according to school officials.

The district is running an $11.1 million high school bond request, which would be repaid over the next 15 years. The elementary district is running a $5.5 million, 15-year bond.

If approved, the bonds would raise annual property taxes by about $250 for a home with an assessed market value of $200,000. A home with an assessed value of $300,000 would have a $375 annual tax increase.

The district mailed ballots to all registered voters Wednesday. Ballots are due at the district office Oct. 9. Polls will not be open that day; voters must use the mail-in ballots.

In a typical bond election, Montana law requires a simple majority of approval if voter turnout is at least 40 percent. Passing a bond with 30 percent to 39 percent turnout requires a 60 percent majority. If turnout is less than 30 percent, the election automatically is rejected.

Elections by mail, however, have no minimum turnout requirements.

That?s good news for Bigfork, where average voter turnout is from 12 percent to 15 percent, District Clerk Eda Taylor said. Other school districts that have used mail-in ballots have seen higher-than-usual voter turnouts, she added.

The bond election is the culmination of an 18-month investigation that began in November 2005. School principals told Superintendent Russell Kinzer they were concerned with their buildings? limitations. Deficiencies presented difficulties for teachers, they said.

The district detailed those limitations and presented the information to the school board. The trustees reviewed the presentation and hired Architects West, a Coeur d?Alene firm, to explore ways to address the district?s concerns.

The architects hired an analysis firm, MGT of America, to evaluate the campus. The firm examined how the buildings? condition impacted education and evaluated their layout and design.

Teams of teachers, principals and support staff reviewed the firm?s assessment and brainstormed possible solutions, which they presented to the architect and the board of trustees. In June, after reviewing possible designs and estimated construction costs, trustees called for a bond election.

It?s the second time in a decade the Bigfork School District has attempted to pass a bond. In 1998, a bond request to build a new high school failed by about 600 votes.

This time, building a new school isn?t an option, Kinzer said. A district may only go into debt totaling 45 percent of its taxable value. Bigfork?s high school bond capacity is $12.5 million. The elementary bond capacity is $9.8 million.

That isn?t enough to purchase land and build a new school, he said. Even if it was, the school?s operating budget isn?t enough to cover a third building.

?You have two options,? he said. ?You either fix what you have or maintain the status quo.?

Enrollment has declined over the last decade, but programs necessitated by No Child Left Behind and other state and federal mandates take up the space those additional students occupied. The schools are ?at capacity programmatically,? Kinzer said.

Those programs include Title I tutoring, special education and booster programs for math and reading.

The school psychologist and student resource officer don?t have offices, and there is no room for a nurse?s facility at the high school, Kinzer said. The school board would like to institute mental health services on campus, but there isn?t room for that, either.

The district does have a staff day care in an elementary classroom. While it isn?t absolutely necessary, it has been an effective way to recruit and retain young teachers, Kinzer said.

The board considered cutting some programs but ultimately decided all the programs were good for the education environment and should be maintained, he said.

Even if the programs were gone, several classrooms still would be full. For years, teachers have adapted and made do with what they had, but that isn?t an optimum solution, Kinzer said.

?That?s not always the best environment for learning,? he said.

Students are meeting in what probably was intended as a storage room off the stage in the gym. High school art and science students are crowded in their classrooms.

There isn?t enough room for the sixth-graders in the elementary building; for the last nine years, they have been relegated to a portable building on the west end of campus. If the bonds pass, that building and the 18-year-old math portable ? another ?temporary? solution to the schools? need for space ? will be removed.

?They?re really becoming maintenance burdens,? Kinzer said.

Other classrooms are simply outdated. The high school science lab is small and has limited features, and the middle school science lab ?is really just a room with tables,? he said.

Some bond money would be used to build a new commons in the high school, which would give students a place to eat lunch. Currently there are a few tables in the foyer outside the gym but not enough to accommodate students with a closed campus for lunch. Instead, students eat in the halls or in classrooms.

Elementary and middle school students also would receive a new cafeteria. Right now there is plenty of space, but the cafeteria is really a large hallway ? which is awkward and unsafe, Kinzer said.

Bond money would allow for new main entrances and front offices at both schools, he added. This would alleviate confusion and improve access and safety.

Improving the parking lot will help as well, he said. The district would use part of the elementary and high school bond to separate the high school and elementary parking lots and create separate accesses for each. The district also would widen part of Commerce Street to reduce the traffic backup that occurs at the end of each school day.

The high school bond would have communitywide impacts. Some money would be used to expand the library, which would allow for a partnership between the school district and the Bigfork branch of the Flathead County Library.

The new joint-use library would be 5,000 square feet ? up from the school?s existing 1,600 square feet. To protect students, the community would have a separate entrance, separate rest rooms and separate Internet access. The school and county library would share most materials.

The board of trustees and the Flathead County library board each unanimously approved the concept, Kinzer said.

If the bonds pass, the projects wouldn?t go to bid until next winter. Construction drawings would be completed next summer, when most builders already would have several projects going.

?You get better bid responses in the winter months,? he said. ?We would like it earlier, but we?ll get the best prices? in the winter.

Voters are welcome to tour the campus from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays to see how the bond money would be spent. District officials are conducting several informational presentations as well. Call the district office at 837-7400 or visit http://suse.bigfork.k12.mt.us/district/index.htm for more information.

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