Schools study land purchase for new school

Kalispell school officials have selected a 25-acre property at the south end of town along Airport Road as a future site for elementary school construction.

The land is southeast of the Ashley Park Subdivision.

On the May 8 school ballot, voters living in the Kalispell elementary district will decide whether or not to authorize the district to purchase the land.

The district intends to use existing money in an interlocal fund to purchase the property for $420,000. The land also would need to be annexed into the city, according to Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Darlene Schottle.

To develop the property would cost an additional $508,000.

School board chairman Frank Miller said that if the site were carefully planned, it potentially could fit two school buildings if needed.

Tuesday’s unanimous board decision to pursue the property comes at a time when the district is running out of time to plan for continued enrollment growth at the elementary level.

“It’s safe to assume over the next few years it is likely the elementary board will have to address overcrowding whether that be an elementary school or middle school,” Schottle said during Tuesday’s board meeting.

Trustee Mary Ruby said she had hoped the construction of eight new classrooms at Peterson and Elrod schools, completed in August 2013, would have left at least another year for planning.

These additions were built to accommodate overcrowding at the kindergarten through second-grade level.

Schottle said these classrooms already were full at the start of the school year and by November were at capacity, exceeding more than 20 students per room.

Trustee Dave Schultz said he thought now was a good time to buy.

“We’re buying at a fairly good time and you’re not asking the taxpayers to reach into their pocket,” Schultz said.

On Wednesday, Schottle said that there had been an offer made on the property that expires at the end of the month.

“I may not know whether the property is still available until the first part of April,” Schottle said.

Trustees also had looked at another 25-acre property on Cemetery Road that has a price of $375,000. This property, however, may come with a latecomer fee of between $250,000 and $450,000.

This land is in the Somers-Lakeside School District adjoining the Kalispell district. The districts would need to enter into a  joint agreement. Kalispell Public Schools also might be limited to building a middle school.

“Frankly, there’s not a whole lot out there,” Miller said. “The south side is where you have a lot of young families and starter-type homes. It seems to be where the crowding is coming from into Peterson, Elrod and Hedges.”

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