EDITORIAL: Elementary school bond is crucial

There are 220 reasons for voters to support Kalispell Public Schools’ elementary-school bond request.

Actually, there are more reasons than those, but the key number is 220. That’s how many students are enrolled in Kalispell’s elementary schools beyond capacity.

A continuing boom in elementary grades means the existing five elementary schools are jam-packed with young students.

The most comprehensive solution is a new school, which is the centerpiece of the school district’s $25.3 million funding request.

More than half of that money — $15.1 million — would go toward building a new 450-student school on property the school district already owns on Airport Road at the south end of town.

That new school not only would relieve the burden of overcrowding at Kalispell schools, but also allow the elementary facilities to return to the concept of neighborhood schools, where kids go to class near their homes. That’s far from the case now as many students have to travel across town to a different schoolhouse because the one nearby is overflowing with pupils.

The remainder of the money would revamp the existing five schools — everything from repairing leaky roofs to building new gyms and creating more flexible learning spaces and enhancing special programs such as music.

Readers who have followed our week-long series on Kalispell schools learned how school officials have been dealing with a host of issues, many due to the schools’ age. (The newest school, Edgerton, was built in 1987, and the oldest school, Hedges, dates all the way back to 1929.)

One principal pointed out that “every nook and cranny” of the school is being used — and it’s the same at the other schools.

Cramming too many young students into classrooms, hallways and, in some cases, converted closets is not the ideal way to conduct their critical education in the elementary years.

“When kids are packed together, then behaviors explode because they don’t have their own space,” one Hedges teacher explained.

The solution is to provide more space, and although it doesn’t come cheaply — your property taxes will increase — it is absolutely imperative to address what has become a crowding crisis.

Ballots were mailed out last week and voters have until Oct. 4 to return them. We encourage voters to return them with “yes” votes.

Our kids (and the dedicated staffers who teach and guide them at school) need the community to rally behind them and approve the bond issue.

Last week we endorsed the companion bond request for the high school district. The elementary money represents an equally pressing need.