Panel mulls future of Whitefish High School

When it comes to planning for a new high school, the Whitefish School District is starting from scratch.

Sort of.

The district already has hired consultants from Steeplechase Development Advisors to guide it through the planning process. This month the district also hired architects Jackola Engineering & Architecture of Kalispell and DLR Group of Seattle, who will put the plan together.

But what the plan will look like still is a mystery — one the district hopes a newly formed committee will help solve.

The Whitefish High School futures committee met for the first time last week to come up with goals for the high school project.

The group includes the high school principal, a couple of school board trustees and prominent community members — faces one might expect on a committee that will decide what the new or remodeled high school will look like.

But the group also incorporates people who haven’t always felt included in the planning process: teachers and students plus taxpayers who opposed the district’s unsuccessful $21.5 million bond proposal in 2008.

The diverse committee is designed to reflect the broad spectrum of ideas school officials and consultants have heard about the high school. Consultants Chris Kelsey and Bayard Dominick illustrated what people have said about past high school building plans and the direction they want the high school to go.

Some called past plans a “Taj Mahal” and “oversized,” while others said the current building is “practically falling down” and a “disgrace.” Still others wanted compromise between fancy and necessary.

“We don’t need a Cadillac when we can have a Chevy,” was one person’s take.

Through all the differing opinions, Kelsey and Dominick heard several points of agreement in the more than 150 interviews they have conducted.

Most people agreed the high school needs to be upgraded; the debate lies in how much updating is necessary.

Nearly all said some parts of the existing building are worth saving.

People also wanted to see a deliberate planning process and receive better communication from the district. And nearly everyone agreed that now is not the time to ask for bond approval.

It will be at least a year before the district will seek bond approval — if the district runs a bond election, Kelsey said. The district and its consultants will explore alternative funding options to see if there’s a way to build and remodel without breaking taxpayers’ already burdened backs.

“We don’t know if we can get any [alternative funding], but we might be able to get a lot,” Kelsey said.

If all goes according to schedule, the district will have two or three conceptual designs prepared by the middle of July and get those designs out into the community this summer. Kelsey said the district will put up a website about the project, have an information booth at the Whitefish farmers market and give presentations for local civic groups to make sure the community is well informed about the plans.

The goal, Kelsey said, is to get one plan with the “general blessing” of the community.

The futures committee is helping provide some initial direction for the architects.

Committee members discussed whether static computer labs as they exist now will have a place in the future or if students would do better in collaborative spaces. They talked about the need for flexible rooms that could be rearranged depending on each year’s needs.

Others brought up curricular offerings and how to give students a broad yet practical education that doesn’t forsake the basics.

“As you broaden your curriculum, you must preserve the center or the whole thing starts to fragment,” said Cliff Purcell, committee member and pastor of Whitefish Church of the Nazarene.

Stella Holt, a student, told the group students need a space of their own, such as a commons area, a suggestion that drew nods of agreement from many adults in the committee.

“We just need a space to sit and talk and discuss,” she said.

Several people wanted to figure out ways to incorporate the community into the school and vice versa. Some people suggested putting the Whitefish library at the high school. Others wanted to see more opportunities for student apprenticeships.

Remaining a small, community school seemed important to the committee.

“A big huge entryway doesn’t reflect our town,” student Bailey Eaton said after discussion turned to Glacier High, the valley’s newest high school. “When I walk in there, I don’t feel comfortable being there. It doesn’t feel at all inviting.”

The architects and consultants will use comments from the committee meeting to start generating ideas for the plans’ direction. The committee’s next meeting is June 15.

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