Bigfork school ballots to be mailed Thursday

The Bigfork School District will flood the post office Thursday - not with valentines, but with ballots for its high school bond request.

The district is requesting $11.1 million to renovate its high school building. The existing facility is outdated, crowded and inefficient, school officials say.

It's the second time in five months the district has asked voters to approve the bond issue. In October, Bigfork voters denied the high school request but approved a $5.5 million bond issue for the elementary district.

Ballots are due at the district office, 600 Commerce St., no later than 8 p.m. March 4.

If approved, the high school bonds will raise annual property taxes on a home with a taxable value of $200,000 by about $155. Homes with taxable market values of $300,000 would see a $232 annual property tax increase.

If voters approve the bond issue, the district would build new classrooms, new science labs, a new choir room and a new weight room.

The portable building that houses math classes would be taken down. Some money would be used for a new commons/cafeteria, so students no longer would have to eat in crowded hallways.

The high school also hopes to build a new, expanded library, which would allow for a partnership between the school district and the Bigfork branch of the Flathead County Library.

Students and the community would share the existing school library, which would be expanded from 1,600 to 5,000 square feet. Community members would have a separate computer network, entrance and restrooms.

The school's entrance and main office would receive a makeover, and some money would be used for site improvements.

Some site improvements, funded by elementary bonds, are slated for completion before the new school year starts next fall. The elementary school will have a new main entrance that faces the north parking lot, which will be redesigned to allow better traffic flow. The cafeteria, where the current main entrance is located, will be enlarged.

Those projects are slated for completion before school starts next fall. Other construction at the elementary school, including new classrooms and a new art room, will be finished later.

For more information about the proposed high school bond issue, visit http://suse.bigfork.k12.mt.us/district/Elections/HS_BOND_ISSUE.htm or call the district office at 837-7400.

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