Students canvass for Kalispell Public Schools high school levy

Students from Flathead and Glacier high schools are making sure their voices are heard by the voters who will decide a $2.97 million levy request in May that will affect their education. 

Three students from One Brave Pack, a political action committee composed of students, parents and business leaders, shared how they have been canvassing for “Yes” votes on Kalispell Public Schools’ proposed high school general fund levy through social media and door-to-door visits with taxpayers.  

“Our goal is to hit 1,000 homes in like the Kalispell proper area,” Glacier High School junior Josh Lee said. 

Lee and Flathead High School juniors Vikram Vatti and Mitchell Johnson, who arrived straight from a track practice, sat down for an interview recently at the offices of McGarvey Law, which serves as One Brave Pack’s headquarters. Lee and Vatti said they began mobilizing classmates at their respective schools and joined forces when they learned about each other’s efforts.  

The high school general fund levy seeks to cover a budget shortfall and fully fund the high school district, which encompasses Flathead, Glacier, the H.E. Robinson Agricultural Center and Linderman Education Center, the alternative high school. The high school district is currently 90% funded, according to officials.  

The general fund is the main budget that covers costs related to operating schools, such as salaries, instructional materials, student support services, utilities and extracurriculars not covered by the student activities fund, for example. 

The three students agreed there is more awareness of this levy among the student body because of what’s at stake if it doesn’t pass.  

“With so much on the line a lot more students are having it brought to their attention. Teachers are talking about it a lot more and my circle of friends," Lee said. “There’s been a lot of word of mouth [and] people talking about the levy." 

What’s on the line is a reduction of 20.5 full-time equivalent positions in the high school district, which will primarily be achieved through attrition (retirements and resignations). Positions are also being eliminated in the elementary district. Staff cuts will in turn affect the number of classes/sections that can be offered. 

As a member of Flathead’s speech and debate team, Johnson said the impetus to join One Brave Pack and advocate for the levy’s passage came after learning longtime speech and debate head coach and English teacher, Shannon O’Donnell, and assistant coach and history teacher, Sean O’Donnell, are retiring. KPS offered a retirement incentive to all staff under the looming budget shortfall. 

“They gathered us up all before state and basically told us about the retirement and I was really upset about it, and I left the room. I knew I had to do something about it because I don’t think it’s OK that teachers have to give up their job and give up what they love ..." Johnson said. 

"... When you have teachers like that who choose to retire just to try to save younger teachers that’s something that should never be happening, right, like we should have the community caring and investing,” added Vatti, who is also on the speech and debate team. 

The district is also proposing phasing out legacy programs if the levy doesn’t pass. Legacy programs are what Kalispell Public Schools’ is calling programs and extracurriculars that have been offered to generations of high school students including athletics, FFA, speech and debate, theater, trades classes (house construction, welding and mechanics), internships, apprenticeships and music.  

“[Kalispell Public Schools] offers a lot of extra opportunities to students, a lot more than other school districts do, and yet, we’re the lowest funded AA school district in the state,” Lee said. 

In addition to a diploma, high school students may obtain college credit, career-specific certifications and work experience. The students said this gives them a head start in their pursuits after graduation. 

Vatti views extracurriculars as an integral part of students’ education. Sports games, music concerts, theater performances, speech and debate tournaments, county fair participation and volunteering through the extracurriculars all serve as a place for students to showcase their talent while providing a source of community entertainment. 

“There’s a lot of ways to look at the levy, but I think the main way to look at it is that it’s about freedom. It’s about giving freedom to our children, our youth within the community, to be able to do what they want with their lives,” Vatti said. 

“I agree. That’s a good way of putting it,” Lee said. “Voting yes on the levy is really like voting yes for students to be able to have a choice to do the things they care about, do the things they enjoy and the things they want to do to become not only better students, but better community members in the future ... voting for a better future for students.”  

People who can vote on the high school general fund levy includes residents in Kalispell and 13 surrounding elementary school districts whose students feed into Glacier and Flathead. 

If the $2.97 million high school levy is approved, owners of homes with assessed values of $200,000 can anticipate annual taxes to increase by about $33.04. Owners of homes with assessed values of $300,000 can expect annual taxes to increase by $49.56.    

“It’s $73[.80] a year for the average home,” Lee said, referring to the estimated tax increase on a home valued at $447,000. 

“The average home is paying $6 a month. I mean, that’s one trip to Starbucks. That is less than a Netflix subscription. That’s less than a Spotify subscription,” he added. 

Vatti urged residents to reinvest in their community with a “yes” vote. 

“I would say to people who are anti-tax in general is, out of all the things you can spend your money on, this has to be very important. You are directly helping our community. You are investing in the youth who are going to run the businesses that are within the Flathead Valley in the future.  

A high school levy hasn’t passed since May 2007. In the years since, the high school district footprint has grown along with academic programming. In 2024, voters shot down a $700,000 high school general fund levy request, which would have cost taxpayers who owned a $300,000 home about $12 annually. 

Historically, Kalispell Public School’s last major budget cut was $1.5 million that went into effect over 2017 and 2018. Of that amount, about $866,291 was cut from the high school budget alone. To cover budget shortfalls and inflationary increases, the district has also used money in an interlocal fund. 

Rather than tap into one-time funding in the interlocal fund to cover ongoing costs, Kalispell Public Schools has pivoted strategies under a new administration and school board in efforts to stop pushing the problem down the road. The interlocal fund, which is a savings account of sorts, contains a combination of high school and elementary funds, (primarily any remaining year-end money). Currently it holds $5.77 million — with portions of it earmarked for items such as textbook purchases and replacing the artificial turf at Legends Stadium, for example. 

“What I’ve been telling people is, imagine if you had to work with the amount of money that you had 17 years ago and you were just out of college, right, you just got your first apartment and you had a certain amount of money. Now, you have a full family with three kids and you’re trying to live in a bigger home to accommodate all those people — but with the same amount of money you had 17 years ago. It just doesn’t work,” Lee said. 

The three said anyone interested in joining their efforts can, whether it’s canvassing or putting up a yard sign. People may join One Brave Pack’s efforts by filling out a form at https://onebravepack.org. 

For more information about the levy visit Kalispell Public Schools www.sd5.k12.mt.us. 

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