Addressing the persistent growth and overcrowding in Kalispell’s elementary school district could cost between $24-$50 million for new facilities and maintenance, according to preliminary estimates presented last week by planners.
After nearly six months of meeting with a local group of parents, staff and administrators, Steve L’Heaurex of L’Heurex Page Werner and Tom Heinecke of Morrison-Maierle revealed the initial cost estimates for a variety of options for building a new school or multiple sites on a 25-acre property on the south end of Kalispell.
Emphasizing that the figures were preliminary estimates, the planners said the costs could vary widely based on how the community wants to tackle its overcrowded elementary classrooms and aging facilities.
One option that appears popular among the district’s planning committee is to remodel an existing elementary school into a so-called early education center for preschool and kindergarten students while also building a new first-through-fifth grade school and middle school. This proposal could cost roughly $45.25 million and the schools would not reach full capacity until at least 2030, based on a projected 2 percent annual enrollment growth, according to the planners.
Another popular proposal is building a new elementary school and middle school. This scenario could cost roughly $45.21 million and would most likely reach full capacity by 2020.
A third option that received less input from the planning committee but garnered some support was simply building one elementary school, which could cost $24.68 million and would reach full capacity by 2020.
Other possibilities that have been explored include building a new Flathead High School along with a new elementary school and remodeling the existing high school into a middle school. This scenario would cost an estimated $96 million. This proposal, which would also include acquiring a 40-acre property somewhere in town, has been all but eliminated by the planning committee as unfeasible.
The committee will convene again Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. in the conference room at Glacier High School.
“Our goal at the next meeting is to reach a consensus of what’s off the table and moving forward with three or four priorities,” Kalispell School District Mark Flatau told the Beacon.
Flatau said the district hopes to host public meetings in the near future to “engage the community in a greater aspect.” On Dec. 15, the Kalispell school board will turn its attention to the process of floating a bond request to voters in the next year to pay for the construction of any new schools, Flatau said.
As the options and costs come into focus, Kalispell is now increasingly faced with deciding how it wants to organize its elementary district, which has its largest enrollment in history with 3,018 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, 521 more than 10 years ago.
The effort to increase early childhood education opportunities is gaining steam across the nation as studies increasingly tout the benefits. Kalispell only offers public preschool classes to special needs students. The local Head Start center, which houses four classrooms for 3- to 5-year-olds, has a waiting list.
Another factor in the mix, the Lakeside-Somers school district, which has an aging middle school, is interested in sending over 160 sixth-through-eighth grade students to a potential new Kalispell middle school. This could lead to roughly $1 million in additional state funding and potentially $60,000 in tuition.
Kalispell School District Superintendent Mark Flatau said the added funding would not fully cover operational costs for the new school but it would provide a significant revenue stream.
Some people have raised concerns over Kalispell residents paying for the initial construction of the facility that out-of-district students would later use. The Lakeside-Somers district would also be faced with the loss of students, funding and potentially 12 teaching positions.