Bond, school bond
Ballots going out today for request of $21.5 million
This month, Whitefish voters will determine the future of its high school campus.
The Whitefish School District is mailing ballots today for its $21.5 million bond request.
The existing building no longer meets the needs of teachers or the student body, officials say, which is creating safety and liability issues.
If voters approve the request, the bonds will be spent on nearly 164,000 square feet of new construction, remodeling and improvements.
Ballots are due at the district office, 600 E. Second St., by 8 p.m. March 27. Polls will not be open that day; voters must use mail-in ballots.
In a typical bond election, Montana law requires a minimum 30 percent voter turnout. If turnout is less than that, the election automatically is rejected.
Elections by mail, however, have no minimum turnout requirements, which is why many school districts use them for bond requests.
If the ballot measure is approved, it will raise annual property taxes on a home with a taxable market value of $200,000 by about $160. Taxes on homes with taxable market values of $300,000 would increase by about $240 each year.
Proposed changes to Whitefish High School include about 85,700 square feet of new construction. A new wing on the south and west ends of the building would include more than 20 new classrooms and an expanded library.
The school also would feature a new food court, cafeteria and commons area. Two new locker rooms, a weight room and a training room would be added next to the gym.
The building's existing C wing, which was completed in 1956, would be demolished. The hall's heating system and restrooms are outdated, Superintendent Jerry House told the Inter Lake in December, and it has neither fire sprinklers nor light switches.
Instead the wing uses obsolete breaker switches, which are expensive to replace.
The district hopes to use Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design strategies throughout the project, House said. LEED is a nationally recognized rating system for green building projects.
Classes would continue uninterrupted throughout the construction project, which would begin in spring 2009 and conclude in winter 2011.
Friends of Whitefish Schools, a ballot issue committee dedicated to promoting the bond issue, has scheduled its final public tour of the high school from 6 to 7 p.m. March 13.
For further information, contact committee co-chairwoman Linda Maetzold at 862-5158 or Lin Akey at 862-3747, or visit www.friendsofwhitefishschools.org.
More information about the bond issue is available at www.wfps.k12.mt.us/CARE/bond_information.htm.
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.