District hopes to expand crowded Kila School

Kila School is bursting at the seams.

Every classroom is full. Twenty-five kindergarteners are crowded into a too-small classroom, when officials - and state accreditation standards - say they should be in two separate classes.

The gym houses the cafeteria, health and physical education classes, the after-school latch-key program and, on snowy or rainy days, more than 100 youths who can't play outside at recess.

It's time, school officials say, for a change.

The district is asking for $2.1 million in bonds to expand and remodel the school. If voters approve the request in a June 2 mail-in election, the money will provide an 11,423-square-foot expansion.

The expansion includes two new classrooms, a science lab, a new library, a new kitchen and a multipurpose room, which will alleviate some of the demand on the gym. Plans also call for an expanded parking lot.

The school presented its plans to the community Thursday night. About 20 people braved the blowing snow to attend the meeting.

Principal Rene Boisseau acknowledged that the economy makes this a difficult time to ask for money from people, many of whom already are cutting back.

But the need is now, she said.

"We realize and have spent many hours talking about the state of our economy and asking, 'Is this the right time to do this?'" she said. "You can wait forever - but the kids can't."

There is a benefit to building now, she added. The costs of labor and materials are much lower than they were two years ago when the district asked voters for a $147,500 building reserve levy. The levy request bombed; more than two-thirds of voters opposed it.

If voters approve the bonds, annual property taxes will go up by about $181 on a home with a $99,000 taxable market value. A home with a taxable market value of $198,000 would have a $362 annual tax increase.

It seems like a lot, school board chairman Royal Osterday said. But he assured the audience that the plan included only the most necessary construction.

"We're not that much different than you. We don't want to put out any more money than we need to," he said.

Expanding the kitchen is one necessity, district officials said. Kila cooks prepare meals for their own students and for Smith Valley School. That sometimes means making more than 300 meals a day, Boisseau said.

The existing kitchen is tiny. A stainless steel refrigerator that won't fit inside takes up space in the gym. The freezer is a semi-truck trailer in an uninsulated addition off the kitchen.

Adding a multipurpose room also is necessary, Boisseau said. It would benefit the school and the community.

Because the gym already is in high demand, the community doesn't always have access to it, she said. The high cost of electricity and heat also make it somewhat cost-prohibitive for the school to rent.

A multipurpose room would provide a community meeting place. It would also give the school's latch-key program a home. If there are sporting events scheduled in the gym, youths in the latch-key program currently are confined to the stage area, which is too small to comfortably hold the program's 40 children.

Adding a science lab would benefit students who are expected to have lab experience by the time they go to high school, Boisseau said. Adding a classroom will allow the school to have two kindergartens - or two of any grade that needs extra space. It also could be used for a music room; Kila's elective band class is currently in the basement, and the music teacher hauls instruments from classroom to classroom.

Boisseau said she always is willing to give Kila residents a tour to show them where the school's needs are.

Kila School currently has 154 students in nine classrooms for kindergarten through eighth grade.

Some might think the proposed plans are unnecessary, she said. The school is functioning now, even if it is cramped and awkward at times.

"It's a constant juggling act. It's the use of Band-Aid tactics," she said. "A juggler cannot keep adding balls to his routine without dropping a few of them. And a Band-Aid is only a temporary fix."

If voters approve the bond request, the project would likely go to bid in late 2009 or early 2010. Construction, which is expected to take six to nine months, probably would begin in spring 2010.

The district will hold another meeting about the bond April 2. For further information, contact Kila School.

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