Milestone for school won't be last

Inter Lake editorial

It's a big day Saturday for 533 seniors from Flathead High School.

Saturday is, of course, graduation day for the members of the Class of 2008. And as such it is a hugely important day for the students, their proud parents, other family members and friends.

But Saturday afternoon's ceremony marks an important passage for the community as well as the graduates.

It's the last time that Flathead will be the sole public school in Kalispell sending 12th-graders off into the world. Next year Glacier High will share graduation honors for Kalispell.

For Flathead, it's a historic milestone for a school with a history of milestones stretching back all the way to 1902.

This year's graduating class is being touted as "the last best class" but that perhaps overstates the drama of the moment. It may be the last full class, but many future Flathead graduating classes are sure to cross the stage during commencement exercises.

And future Kalispell students - whether they hail from Flathead or Glacier - will continue to make their mark in the world and make their community proud of them.

Future graduations, indeed, hold the promise of being more intimate and manageable when local seniors are split into two graduating classes.

So observe the historic import of Saturday's graduation, but be confident that the future remains bright.

A compromise had to come about, and it has for a new lease agreement that will allow the games to continue at the Conrad Complex in Kalispell.

Things looked pretty bad a few months back when "negotiations" were under way between the Conrad Memorial Cemetery Board and Flathead County Parks and Recreation. The two sides were far apart, to say the least, in coming up with a new lease rate to replace the $1 a year fee that had been in place for 50 years.

The cemetery board wanted the fee increased to an annual rate somewhere in the range of $25,000 to $40,000, while others thought something in the neighborhood of $8,000 would be fair.

Despite the vast differences in opinion, the talks continued and last week, the two sides settled on $15,000. Good for them, and may the games go on at the Conrad Complex.