Kalispell eyes tech levy for high schools

The Kalispell School Board is considering asking voters to approve a technology levy that would provide upgrades at both Flathead and Glacier high schools.

After discussing levy options at length during Tuesday’s board meeting, trustees agreed by consensus to move forward with a technology levy.

If such a levy were set and passed, the money would apply to technology-related expenditures, including equipment purchases, maintenance, training and information-technology staff salaries, freeing up general fund money that could be used for education and instruction.

The district-wide technology budget is $750,000 for this school year, of which $350,000 is earmarked for the high schools. The district received $63,375 in funding from the state for technology.

Trustee Rob Keller said the specificity a technology levy provides rather than a general operations and maintenance levy could be a selling point.

“I think if it’s a technology levy, that’s something most people understand,” Keller said. “They see a need for that and the costs associated with it.”

Trustee Ivan Lorentzen added: “I think what we call it is incredibly important, and operational is just too soft and nebulous and non-concrete. The more specific it could be made, I think there's an asset there. So a technology levy seems to be the best way to package it.”

Voters approved a five-year, $2.8 million building reserve and technology levy for Kalispell’s elementary district in 2010.

Elementary overcrowding was discussed as trustees delved into their budgeting work session. The bottom line is the district needs more elementary teachers but doesn’t have the money to hire them.

To meet state accreditation standards, Assistant Superintendent Dan Zorn said the equivalent of eight or nine full-time instructors is needed at the kindergarten through second-grade level.

Zorn projects classroom size enrollments for the next school year will be a ratio of 26 students to one teacher for kindergarten; 25 students to one teacher for first grade; and 24 students per teacher for second grade.

The preferred classroom size to meet accreditation standards is 20 students to one teacher for kindergarten through second grade.

Trustee Anna Marie Bailey asked if switching to half-day kindergarten would make classroom sizes manageable. Zorn said a half-day kindergarten would free up eight classrooms, which could possibly be used by upper grades.

Board chairman Brad Eldredge asked if it would be worse for students to be in a crowded classroom for a full day or in a smaller class for half the day.

Zorn pointed out that data shows student achievement improved dramatically when kindergarten moved from part time to full time in the 2007-08 school year.

“I think we need to consider all of that; that's the one perspective we're going to hear. The other is maybe we need to make it tough on the community because we need space. We need more classrooms, and in reality, this is the way we can get into accreditation to actually be able to have appropriate-sized classrooms by going to half-day kindergarten,” Kalispell Superintendent Darlene Schottle said.

“It’s not easy. As a board, that will be one of the short-term solutions that will come from the long-range facility plan to be decided in March,” she added.

In addition to considering the switch from full-day back to half-day kindergarten, another option would be to set an operation and maintenance levy for the elementary district.

In other business, trustees were alerted that a portion of transportation costs for travel to and from places other than school, such as special classes at Flathead Valley Community College and the Vo-Ag Center, will have to be covered by the general fund. The district had been using money from the transportation fund to cover those costs, but recently the state Office of Public Instruction has scrutinized schools’ use of transportation funds, saying that money may only be used for direct travel to and from school.

“It has to become general fund expense next year if we're to provide busing to these services next year,” Schottle said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.