Our students deserve to be fully funded

If there’s one thing we all can agree on, it’s that we want what is best for our kids. This includes our own children, our grandchildren and our neighbors, as they are all our kids, our future. We, as Kalispell Public School trustees, know that one doesn’t have to search too long in our district to see not only kids excelling in the best of ways, but also the best educators and support staff to teach and care for them. Our public schools truly represent the best and most valued parts of our community.

Kalispell Public Schools are responsible for preparing our kids for their future but schools cannot and should not do it alone. We need the community to be a strong partner in the effort. As Kalispell Public School trustees, we are asking voters to approve two General Fund Operating Levies on May 2.

Trustees have the pleasure of touring our schools and witnessing the educational excellence our community has come to expect of our public schools. We listen to young singers and actors performing songs from Frozen, we watch students raise market hogs from piglets, we silently cheer our debaters during speech meets and everything in between. Students are becoming the plumbers, nurses, agriculture producers, architects and mechanics we need in our community.

Schools are the heart of a community. Our excellent public schools have helped us become a community that we are proud to be a part of and to represent. Our vision as a board is to continue this excellence as we move into the future – our kids’ futures. We also have the honor of welcoming students from our numerous elementary partner districts of Cayuse Prairie, Fairmont Egan, Deer Park, Somers/Lakeside, Creston, Kila, Marion, West Valley, Smith Valley, Helen Flats, Pleasant Valley and Evergreen. Without a doubt, Kalispell Public Schools represents our entire valley.

Per state law, the state of Montana funds 80% of public education. The state of Montana funds schools based primarily on the Average Number Belonging (ANB) and a Guaranteed Tax Base (GTB). Local communities are responsible for the remaining 20%. They do this 2 ways: bonds and levies. Bonds are used to build buildings and levies support learning in those buildings. School Trustees are asking voters to approve two levies on May 2, one for the general fund at elementary schools and one for the general fund at the high schools. General Fund levies support Agricultural Education, Linderman Education Center, our teachers and support staff, mental health services, district summer school, Computer Technology Education, Art, Music, Theatre, Activities, Sports, School Resource Officers, security and safety measures, IB/AP curriculum and so much more.

However, it has been 16 years since the last mill levy was approved for our high school district. Since then, schools have trimmed the budget to the level where there is nothing left to trim except programs and people.

As your friends, neighbors, and colleagues, we are also keenly aware that the growth in our valley has challenged our community and filled our schools. As part of our oversight responsibilities, trustees have directed district administrators to apply for alternative funding for programs. Administrators and teachers have come through and been awarded numerous grants. One grant has allowed parents in the district to be reimbursed for $70,000 of out of pocket expenses for personalized learning. More than 350 students are enrolled in Running Start or Dual Credit classes at Flathead Valley Community College, saving families future tuition and fees. Kalispell Education Foundation has provided grants directly to teachers for innovative instruction in their classrooms. Private businesses have stepped up to sponsor internships and apprenticeships for our students. Unfortunately, many of these grants and programs are temporary.

Exercising our due diligence as trusted representatives of our community, trustees have realized we have supplemented and trimmed all we can from the operating budget. Teachers, administrators, businesses and philanthropists have stepped up to support our kids and cover the cost of preparing them for their futures. Our kids need the community to step up, show their support, and fully fund our schools.

If the levies are not approved this spring by voters, the district will face budget shortfalls that require cuts to programs and services, and layoffs for teachers and staff.

The cost of the levy will depend on the assessed value of your house, not the market value. That means the average homeowner will pay approximately $7.00 per month to support the training of their next plumber, nurse, or mechanic, a worthy and wise investment.

We hear time and again from community members that they support our kids. It’s time to stand up and decide if our kids and their education are worth supporting. Vote YES on these levies May 2. Our kids deserve to be fully funded!

Kalispell Public Schools Board of Trustees members Heather Asher, Sue Corrigan, Jack Fallon, Will Hiatt, Diane Morton Stout, Lance Isaaks, Rebecca Linden, Jennifer Sevier, Scott Warnell and Ursula Wilde.