Vote Set for New Kalispell School Zones at Jan. 9 Board Meeting
School officials are also reviewing possibility of grandfather clause to remain at current school and out-of-district tuition students
By Myers Reece
After months of public comment and scoping sessions, the Kalispell public school board is set to vote on a final proposal for new elementary school zone boundaries at its Jan. 9 meeting.
The so-called “Option E” emerged as a revised proposal after school officials received public input on an original list of four alternatives for redrawn boundaries, which are needed to accommodate a sixth elementary school.
The new school, Rankin Elementary, is set to open on Airport Road in fall 2018 after Kalispell voters approved a bond last year to fund its construction in response to growing enrollment and overcrowding at the current five facilities.
Mark Flatau, superintendent of Kalispell Public Schools, said the board will vote on a version of Option E, which was released in November after the four preliminary options were unveiled in October. The district held three public meetings in October on the original four alternatives, which clarified a path forward for the revised proposal.
Flatau plans to meet with elementary school principals on Tuesday to discuss remaining tweaks to the final rezoning proposal. The potential changes involve enrollment numbers at specific schools and wouldn’t significantly alter the plan, Flatau said.
“It will be some minor changes just to be able to adjust some of those numbers that were just not where we wanted them to be,” he said on Dec. 18.
Flatau hopes to have the updated information available for parents later this week. He added that a large majority of the more than 200 public comments on Option E were in support, providing far more consensus than the first four alternatives.
Since October, school officials have waded through numerous comments, including from parents worried about their children having to change schools. The concerns involved both safety and social aspects, with redrawn boundaries forcing kids to walk farther and attend a different school than their friends.
Option E was designed to address those concerns as best as possible while still appropriately redistributing students around the city, for both current and future enrollment needs, as student numbers continue to swell in one of the fastest-growing towns in Montana.
The school district also has a buy-sell agreement to purchase 12 acres in the Kalispell North Town Center off Whitefish Stage Road as the site of a future elementary school, but the deal has contingencies, most notably that the property must be approved by Kalispell voters. The school board will discuss a timeline for such a vote.
Parents already have the option of submitting a petition to change schools within the school district, and the school board is set to review the possibility of out-of-district tuition students and a grandfather clause that would allow students to remain in their current school for one or two years based on approval of an application.
Visit the district’s website at www.sd5.k12.mt.us for more information.