School growth rate jumps to 3 percent

The challenges of rising enrollment and elementary overcrowding came to the forefront of a Kalispell Public Schools facility planning committee meeting last week.

“We’ve been growing at 1 to 2 percent across the district for the past several years,” Superintendent Mark Flatau said, but noted that so far this year the district is up 3 percent (200 students).

“Enrollment is certainly something that’s driving this discussion, but it’s also the long-term maintenance and upkeep of our current facilities,” Flatau added.

Short-term solutions for elementary issues were on the mind of participants as they were taken on a tour of Edgerton Elementary, considered Kalispell’s “new” elementary school by some although it is 28 years old.

Principal Merisa Murray walked participants into an average-sized room that is home to a “super” classroom where between 35 to 38 kindergartners are instructed by two teachers. Edgerton has the most super classrooms, four, out of Kalispell elementary schools. The super classrooms range from grades kindergarten through third.

“We had six to eight kids enrolled just today,” Murray said about her school’s growing enrollment. “With preschool we have 679 students. We’re very, very full. I started nine years ago and I think we were close to 500.”

Murray outlined some of the issues of having such a packed school with limited space: 50 children in physical education class at once, students attending lunch in waves and heavy traffic during pick up and drop off.

Meeting facilitator Steve L’Heureux of L’Heureux Page Werner, an architecture, engineering and planning firm, said the purpose of the committee is to get the pulse of the community on what is wanted and what it will support.

“We know we need a new school, there’s no way around that,” L’Heureux said, but emphasized that the planning process needs to cover the long term.

“It [enrollment growth] is not going to stop. Where are we going to go in 10 years? We don’t want to be in this position again,” L’Heureux said. “We want to have a plan. It won’t be funded necessarily, but we need to at least have that thought in mind.”

The plan should be broader in scope than limited to configurations of a new elementary building on school property south of town, according to L’Heureux.

“I don’t want us to just think building these new schools on the south side is going to solve all our problems forever because it’s not. The voters are not going to want to hear you have a 20- or 30-year bond issue ... come back in 10 years and say, ‘Guess what — we need more money,’” L’Heureux said. “So I want to challenge us.”

Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz didn’t want discussion to be shortsighted either when comments about building a new high school were tempered by more general discussion of the elementary situation that, he said, would “buy time” until the next crisis brings them back to the table.

“If you don’t talk about those things now so that they become common table talk — eight to 10 years from now it will never happen,” Jentz said. “We’ll need a new high school soon. If we start talking when we need the high school, we are already too late. We need to plant those seeds now, cast those dreams out there. Don’t let the public lose sight.”

The next step L’Heureux will take is to compile lists of existing conditions at each building site encompassing enrollment, education and building needs, expansion possibilities and traffic issues. L’Heureux said he would then begin developing scenarios for each site to be brought back for discussion.

“We’ll develop those scenarios enough so that by the end of the year we can have a decision on the direction we’re going,” L’Heureux said. “We won’t be able to do everything but what’s most meaningful.”  

The last time the facility planning committee met was in June.

“I haven’t taken the summer off from this,” L’Heureux said. “I’ve been weeding through the volumes of past planning information that you guys have to see where you are and where we need to fill those gaps from then to now as far as what’s been done.”

The next Facility Planning Committee meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. Oct. 7 at Hedges Elementary and the general topic will focus on an assessment of educational needs.

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