Flathead County School Elections Roundup

Ballots were mailed out Friday for this year’s school elections, and for voters within the bounds of Kalispell Public Schools, Fair-Mont-Egan School, Cayuse Prairie School, Deer Park School and the Helena Flats School District, levy asks will take center stage.

Montana’s school funding formula requires school districts to ask voters for authorization to grow their general fund beyond a minimum threshold the legislature sets out.

But over the years, inflation and other factors have squeezed school budgets, and education advocates say levies have become increasingly necessary for school districts to continue operating at their current level.  

That’s the reasoning behind the levy asks for four out of the five Flathead County school districts taking them to voters this spring.

Read on for more about each of the districts’ levy asks and information about how to cast a vote in this year’s special elections.

CAYUSE PRAIRIE SCHOOL

After months of community discussion, Cayuse Prairie School’s board of trustees in February approved putting a $300,000 levy ask on the May ballot.

The levy would bring in about 27.44 mills for the small, rural district located in the east valley. For a $300,000 home, the levy comes with an estimated impact of $62.56 annually; and that cost bumps up to $134 per year for a $600,000 home. The district has a calculator on its website for voters to estimate the levy’s impact on their own home as well.

The district hasn’t passed a levy in 20 years. Cayuse Prairie’s superintendent and board chair both described the district facing a dire situation as it looks down a fiscal cliff brought on by inflation, the sunsetting of COVID funds and grant funding that has kept the school afloat drying up. The district described other steps it has taken to be stewards of taxpayer dollars — moving to a four-day school week and requiring students to pay for extracurricular activities among them — but the situation has reached a breaking point where a levy is necessary to maintain its programming.

Board chair Tyler Hash previously told the Beacon that without the levy’s passage, the district could be forced to cut programs and positions that are “nice to have, not need to have,” including classroom aides and the horticulture program, which has served as a cornerstone for the small, rural district.

For voters interested in hearing more, the district is hosting a conversation to share about the need for the levy and offering a chance for community members to ask questions at the school on April 17 at 5:30 p.m.

DEER PARK SCHOOL

Flathead County’s oldest school district, Deer Park School, is asking voters to approve its first levy of the 21st century this spring.

Deer Park School is asking for a $110,000 operational levy. The ask comes with an estimated tax impact of $53.57 per year on a home valued at $300,000; and a $123.12 cost for homes valued at $600,000.

According to an informational flyer the district has mailed to voters, that levy amount will go toward retaining school staff and increasing wages; adding a part-time maintenance position; and utilities and supplies. Should the levy fail to pass, the district could be forced to make cuts to non-required programs, reduce staff or charge students for participation in school-sanctioned athletics.

The school will host two informational sessions about its levy request prior to the election. Those will take place at the Deer Park School gymnasium on April 18 at 10 a.m., and on April 27 at 6:30 p.m.

FAIR-MONT-EGAN SCHOOL

At Fair-Mont-Egan School, another rural district in the eastern part of the Flathead Valley, voters will see a pair of levy asks on the ballot as the district hopes to fend off a projected general fund deficit of $217,000 for next year. The pair of levies serve as the district’s first ask of taxpayers in over a decade.

The district is asking voters to approve a general fund levy request for $140,380.45. For a home valued at $300,000 the levy is estimated to cost $52.22 annually. And for a home with a $600,000 value, it’s estimated to cost $111.57. That general fund ask would go toward teacher salaries, staff retention and operating costs for the school.

Fair-Mont-Egan School will also ask taxpayers to say yes to a five-year technology fund levy, which would collect $50,000 annually. That levy comes with estimated costs of $16.37 annually for a $300,000 home and $34.97 annually for a $600,000 home.

The school hasn’t passed a technology fund levy since 2003. The $250,000 it hopes to collect would pay to upgrade classroom technology for its students, provide funds to purchase online curriculums and cover cybersecurity costs. By passing a technology-specific levy, the district would be able to stretch its general fund further.

Like its neighboring east valley district, Cayuse Prairie School, Fair-Mont-Egan is contending with a numer of factors contributing to budgeting difficulties. It’s contending with COVID funds drying up, the loss of a literacy grant and inflation that has long outpaced funding the state gives to its schools.

Fair-Mont-Egan is set to host an informational meeting for community members to learn about the levy on April 27 at 6 p.m.

HELENA FLATS SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Helena Flats School District, which serves students in grades K-8, has a levy ask on its ballot this spring. But unlike other districts in the area, Helena Flats isn’t asking voters to approve extra funding for its operations.

Instead, Superintendent Andy Maheras explained, it’s asking to purchase 10 acres of land across the street from the school. Voters will see both a land acquisition levy ask and building reserve levy ask on the ballot, but both are part of that same effort.

“One initiative is to purchase land,” Maheras said. “The second initiative is for a levy for the amount required to purchase the land. So that’s the two pieces there.”

The school district’s ask would come with a total cost of $672,157, to be paid off over the next 10 years. It’s estimated to cost $24.88 annually for a $300,000 home, and $72.04 per year for a home valued at $600,000. Helena Flats School District has a levy calculator on its site for district residents to calculate a more exact estimate of how much it would cost them.  

Maheras explained several factors — and questions — are at play with the district’s interest in acquiring the land.

“What do we do ‘if?’” Mahearas said. “How do we address growth? How do we address our community and our student needs? How do we address the facilities? How do we maintain our role as good stewards of the public dollar? Because we work for the public. We work for them. And I want to make sure that the community knows that, ‘hey, we want to make sure we’re doing the right thing.’”

Purchasing the land gives the school district options for the future, Maheras said. The board hasn’t made any decisions about what it would want to see on the land yet, but Maheras said there are several possibilities for what it could become should the school purchase it, from a site for a new building to a community gathering place.

The district is hosting a community Q&A to share information about the ask with voters on April 21. That session will take place in the Helena Flats School Library from 7 to 8 p.m.  

KALISPELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

This May, Kalispell Public Schools is asking taxpayers to fund a $1.1 million levy, which will pay for operating costs for the elementary district. Those operating costs include things like salaries, benefits, insurance and utilities — costs which have gone up for the district as inflation rises.

For those with a home valued at $300,000, the levy would cost $28.12 annually. For a home valued at $600,000, it’s estimated to cost $60.06 annually.

Kalispell Public Schools (KPS), the largest school system in the valley, is comprised of two districts: an elementary and high school district. The high school district passed its first levy in nearly 20 years last spring, staving off hefty cuts at that level. But at the elementary district, KPS has struggled with funding discrepancies, needing to fill more teaching positions to meet state accreditation standards, but receiving less funding from the state per-student to do so.

Last school year, the elementary district saw a cut of 16 full-time positions, including several health enhancement positions at the middle school, which remaining staff say have had negative impacts. Superintendent Matt Jensen has warned more cuts could come down the pike if the elementary levy fails to pass muster with voters this spring.

KPS administrators and trustees have expressed their hope is that once this year’s levy passes, the district can begin to implement a multi-year funding cycle “designed to replace large, infrequent gaps with smaller, regular investments that are more predictable for the community.” The last time the district passed an elementary levy was in 2023.  

HOW TO CAST YOUR BALLOT

While Flathead Valley school districts hope for levy passages, the state has seen a downward trend in levy passage rates over the past two decades. At a February meeting of the School Funding Interim Commission — a group of legislators, political appointees and representatives from the Office of Public Instruction — Montana School Boards Association executive director Lance Melton presented data indicating that passage rates have plummeted from higher than 90% in the early aughts, to less than 60% in recent years.

“We’re down to a smidgeon here — we’re down to the point of ‘why are people running levies anymore?’” Melton said in February.

This spring, voters in Flathead County’s school district boundaries will have the final say.

In addition to levies, Bigfork Public Schools’ elementary district, Cayuse Prairie School, Columbia Falls School District’s elementary district, Kalispell Public Schools’ high school district and the Whitefish School District’s elementary district will each see competitive school board races.

The school election will be conducted completely by mail. Ballots went out to voters on April 17, and must be received by 8 p.m. on election day, May 5. Ballots can be mailed back, or dropped off at the following locations:

• Columbia Falls District Administration Office, located at 501 Sixth Ave. E. in Columbia Falls, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday
• Cayuse Prairie School District, located at 897 Lake Blaine Rd. in Kalispell, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Thursday
• Fair-Mont-Egan School District, located at 797 Fairmont Rd. in Kalispell, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Thursday
• Whitefish School District Office, located at 127 Spokane Ave. in Whitefish, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday
• Flathead High School, located at 644 Fourth Ave. W. in Kalispell, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday
• Glacier High School, located at 375 Wolfpack Way in Kalispell, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday

The Flathead County Election Office will also be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 5.

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