Bright spots shine despite schools' funding woes

2010 proved a tough year for school finances, but there were bright spots in classrooms throughout the year.

Money troubles plagued many districts in Flathead County. Budget deficits and building needs forced districts to turn to cash-strapped taxpayers for help, and more often than not, voters said no to financial requests.

Three districts ran levy elections during May’s regular school elections, but only one passed. Whitefish voters approved a $40,643 general fund levy, which helped alleviate a $150,000 deficit in the elementary district’s 2010-11 budget.

Kalispell Public Schools’ elementary general fund levy did not fare as well: Voters denied a $338,000 request. The district was forced to make $603,000 in cuts to balance its 2010-11 elementary budget.

Those cuts impacted the district’s accreditation standards this fall. Kalispell’s elementary and high schools had 64 accreditation deviations, the vast majority of them in class size.

The deviations include failing to meet accreditation standards in each of the district’s five elementary school libraries. Because the district did not fill one open librarian position, the remaining librarians are divided among the schools. Kalispell Education Association, the district’s teachers union, filed a grievance on the librarians’ behalf this fall.

Kila School ran a $150,000 building reserve levy in May in an attempt to earn money for a two-classroom building project. When voters denied the levy request, Kila built just one classroom, using flexible funds and one-time-only federal stimulus money.

Construction wrapped up on the 1,250-square-foot special education and Title I classroom this fall. According to Principal Renee Boisseau, the district will continue its “one classroom at a time” campaign for as long as necessary.

West Valley voters rejected a $3.5 million bond request in June.

The district had hoped to build an 18,000-square-foot middle school wing to alleviate crowded classrooms and give the school more space. West Valley’s enrollment grew 33 percent over 10 years, more than any other school in the county. The school grew by 29 students this fall, requiring the district to convert a computer lab into a fourth-grade classroom.

Community members in Hungry Horse reacted angrily when the Columbia Falls School District proposed closing Canyon Elementary School at the end of the year. Doing so could save the district $900,000 a year, Superintendent Michael Nicosia said, and would have alleviated Columbia Falls’ half-million-dollar budget deficit in 2010-11.

The community’s outrage prompted trustees to keep the school open for another year, but Canyon Elementary is poised to close at the end of the current school year.

Even the county’s highest public school official wasn’t exempt from financial woes. In late 2009, Flathead County Commissioner Joe Brenneman proposed merging the Superintendent of Schools Office with the Treasurer’s Office, a move Superintendent Marcia Sheffels said would strip voters of their say and create a loss of accountability, lack of functionality and untold expenses.

The commissioners ultimately backed away from the proposal but promised to continue to study the potential merger.

Local districts had hoped a federal jobs bill approved in August could help future budget situations. The bill was intended to help retain or create education jobs, and, as state and local school officials understood it, would be given on top of the state’s regular education dollars.

But the governor’s office instead used the money to supplant money the state had already allocated for schools in 2010-11. Dan Villa, Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s education adviser, said the governor didn’t have a choice; state statute says Montana must use nongeneral fund money “whenever possible before using general fund appropriations.”

The money originally allocated for schools went back into the general fund, and Villa told the Inter Lake it would be reappropriated for schools in 2011-12.

Despite financial challenges, schools experienced bright moments.

Columbia Falls High School won its fifth-straight speech and debate state title, a Class A record.

Whitefish High School started a Freshman Academy this fall to create smaller learning environments within the school and ease the transition from eighth to ninth grade.

Evergreen Junior High was able to build a 1,180-square-foot classroom with federal stimulus, flexible and building reserve dollars. Cayuse Prairie’s new 7,818-square-foot gymnasium — the result of a $1.95 million bond issue voters approved in 2009 — opened in December, just in time for the school’s annual Christmas program.

Kalispell schools received an unexpected boost this fall when Flathead High alumnus Terry Pugh offered to install high-tech LED scoreboards at Legends Stadium and in the Flathead and Glacier gymnasiums. The deal won’t cost the district anything and will bring in revenue.

Trustees approved an initial contract with Pugh this month and expect to see a final proposal in January.

The district received another unexpected gift when the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation awarded it a $22,500 grant to finish Glacier High School’s east access road. A partnership with Flathead Valley Community College’s heavy equipment class and donations from local businesses helped the district finish the driveway relatively inexpensively; it opened to traffic in November.

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