The Kalispell public high school district is preparing to request a $1.2 million general fund levy to support technology, curriculum, programs, activities, safety and security, individualized learning and technical education.
Ballots will be mailed out April 22 and must be received by the district office by 8 p.m. on May 7.
A general fund levy, also called an operational levy, is used for day-to-day operations and differs from a bond, which provides funds strictly for infrastructure. The Kalispell school district uses a mnemonic: “levy is for learning, bond is for building.”
Voters approved a $1 million operational levy for Kalispell’s public elementary district last May. Now officials and the board are seeking the same kind of levy for the high school district, which includes Flathead and Glacier high schools, the Linderman Education Center and the Agricultural Education Center.
Mark Flatau, superintendent for Kalispell Public Schools, gave a presentation on March 26 at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon describing the need for the levy and how the funds would be used if voters approve it. The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce board unanimously voted in February to support the levy.
“It’s the meat and potatoes, the bread and butter of our general fund,” Flatau said of an operational levy.
The high school district hasn’t passed an operational levy since 2007, and Flatau notes that some districts float operational levies routinely each year. In those 12 years, the high school district has added 333 students and 56,000 square feet of new learning space. Resource needs, as well as inflation, have also grown through that period, Flatau noted.
Flatau also pointed out that before turning to voters with a levy request, school officials enacted budget cuts totaling $866,291 over a two-year period in the high school district.
To demonstrate the cost of updating necessities such as curriculum, Flatau said the school board recently approved a new chemistry text.
“It was $60,000 for that one textbook,” he said.
Flatau touted programs and activities that would benefit from the levy, including Advanced Placement at Glacier High and International Baccalaureate at Flathead High, as well as Project Lead the Way at both schools that provides immersive opportunities in engineering, biomedical and computer science education.
Flatau’s presentation also pointed to the high schools’ success in numerous sports and activities such as speech and debate, band, choir, math club and FFA.
“Our gold standard extra-curricular activities are some of the most highly honored across the state,” the district says. “We believe that active learning produces active leaders.”
Beyond the two high schools, Flatau said the Linderman and agricultural education centers provide critical opportunities for individualized learning and technical education.
“Not all students are bound for a four-year college,” he said. “Whether you’re the best welder in the valley or going to Columbia University, we’re going to help you get there. The ag center is an important part of our technical education.”
A big chunk of the district’s annual safety and security budget is roughly $165,000 for school resource officers, for which the levy would help pay.
“Our general fund pays for that, not the city like some people think,” Flatau said.
For the owner of a median-priced home valued at $275,000, the levy would cost $2.94 per month — about the cost of a jug of milk, Flatau said — which is $35 per year.
Flatau showed a slide of Kalispell having the lowest cost-per-student ratio among all Class AA high school districts, as well as the lowest among Flathead County high school districts at $7,099, which is $1,816 lower per student than Whitefish. It also operates at 92 percent of maximum budget, by far the lowest of Class AA districts in Montana, with most operating at 100 percent.
“With the passage of this levy we will not surpass any of those folks up on that list,” Flatau said. “It will move us from 92 to 97 percent, the exact percentage elementary is at.”
“We ask only if the need is there for a levy,” he added. “We don’t go out every year as some districts do.”
For more information, call the district office at (406) 751-3400.