Vo-ag supporters show up in force before board

There was a sea of blue jackets at the Kalispell school board meeting Tuesday night.

FFA students who attend the district’s H.E. Robinson Vo-Ag Center were there with teachers, parents and community members to speak out in support of the program, which they feared might face cuts as the district tries to balance its 2011-12 budget.

That shortfall could range from $617,575 to $1.4 million, depending on how state lawmakers decide to fund education. The highest deficit estimate is based on current funding law and the $432,000 school officials said it would cost the district to cover necessary building maintenance and technology costs.

Kalispell Public Schools had hoped to cover those expenses with a building reserve and technology levy, which would have cost taxpayers $6 million over five years. When voters rejected the levy request in March, trustees and district officials began bracing for a huge shortfall.

At a meeting the day after the levy failure, trustees told school officials to brace for the worst-case scenario. Making up a deficit that size wouldn’t be easy, and they acknowledged the district would have to find a “big-ticket item,” such as extracurricular activities, the alternative high schools or the vo-ag programs, to make up the deficit.

That information was reported in the Inter Lake March 26 and drew widespread response from the community, particularly from supporters of the vo-ag program. Trustee Tom Clark said the board “got slammed” with about 150 emails. Most were from people concerned the ag center would be eliminated.

Some of those who had sent emails turned out to speak at the meeting, which drew a crowd of about 100 people. Many voiced their support of the FFA program and encouraged trustees to continue supporting it.

Cutting the program is not among the recommended cuts Superintendent Darlene Schottle presented Tuesday night.

Neither is cutting Bridge or Laser, the district’s alternative high schools, or eliminating any sports or activities, although school officials recommend cutting $100,000 from the activities budget.

The district needs to look at all those programs, as well as other programs that go beyond accreditation requirements, in the near future, trustee Ivan Lorentzen said.

“I recommend all those parts of the school that are not part of accreditation standards be put on moratorium next year,” he said.

Having time to examine those programs will allow the district to see how those programs are performing and where they’re going, “with an eye on 20 years out,” Lorentzen said. “Where does this district want to end up in 20 years?”

That will depend in part on budgets, which grow increasingly more difficult to balance. The district has done its best to make cuts that won’t affect services to students, Lorentzen said, but Kalispell schools might come to a point that requires making choices and doing fewer things better.

“We can’t do them all any more,” he said.

One cut the district is considering next year will affect the ag center. By eliminating additional days — pay teachers receive for working more than the regular school year demands — district officials believe they can save $10,000 in the high school budget. That would impact the ag center’s three teachers, who work additional days in the summer to run the school farm.

Those aren’t eight-hour days, said Kelly Morrow, who teaches at Flathead High School and the ag center.

“Walk in their shoes. They’re long days, 14-, 15-, 16-hour days in the summer. I don’t think they’re adequately funded for that,” said Morrow, who also pointed out the hours ag teachers devoted over spring break when they took students to the state FFA convention and the days they might be at the ag center checking on animals at 1 a.m.

Morrow said she would not affected if funding for additional days was cut.

Several students spoke in support of the program and its teachers. Kalee McRae, chapter recorder, said she would have graduated early if the ag center hadn’t given her a reason to stay in school. Because she participated in the program, McRae now knows she wants to be an ag teacher.

Kylee Gibson praised her hard-working teachers at the ag center. Clark Krantz sometimes stays an hour and a half after school to help her with projects, she said.

“Everything that they do shows so much care that I don’t have with all of my other teachers,” she said.

Misty Nolan thanked teachers Brian Bay and Justin Heupel for pushing her and other students “to be different, to be us,” and asked board members not to cut FFA or other activities.

“These are our door-openers to the world that is so vast,” she said.

Hannah Anderson, a senior at Flathead High School, also urged trustees not to cut activities, which she said teach students “how to have a good work ethic, how to truly work hard for success.” Extracurricular participation helps students get into college, she added, and knowing that extracurriculars are in place might make college-educated graduates more likely to move back to the Flathead Valley.

Mark Lalum, a former teacher and board member and longtime vo-ag supporter, said he appreciated the difficult position the board is in but reminded them of the ag center’s uniqueness. Flathead’s program began in 1911, making it one of the oldest in the country, he said.

Whatever trustees decide to do, they should remember what is truly important, Lalum said.

“That’s what you need to keep in mind, is what’s best for the kids [and what] you can do to provide the best education and do your best with limited resources,” he said.

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