Page 20 - Flathead Beacon // 4.15.15

20 | APRIL 15, 2015
NEWS
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
THANK YOU...
... to all of you who have participated in this 2008 Harley Davidson XL 1200 Nightster raffle. ALL tickets have been sold and the drawing will be held on April 18th at 12:30pm at Valley Ford Kalispell, MT. And again Montana Wounded Warriors would like to express our appreciation, not only for Denton Moberly’s donation to the organization, but for his service to our country.
BIGFORK
Continued from page 5
CTA Architects Engineers, which was hired to conduct the study, presented its 49-page draft report on March 30, echo- ing previous assessments that found the school is largely outdated and lacking proper space.
The school district has hosted com- munity meetings to discuss ideas that could be incorporated into any future re- development plans. The third and final workshop is April 16 from 6-7:30 p.m. in- side the gymnasium.
After the final meeting, the school board will review the results of CTA’s study and the community workshops and develop recommendations for the future. This could include proposing a recon- struction of the high school or partial ren- ovations of the existing facilities, options that would both require the passage of a school bond to pay for the projects.
Although nothing concrete has been established and CTA continues to review possible costs, the firm has projected $10 million to $14 million for various facility upgrades, similar to previous estimates.
As history has shown, asking taxpay- ers to pitch in more money for schools is challenging.
Whitefish residents grappled for years with renovating their high school, similar to Kalispell, where the district has asked voters to update its school facilities to varying degrees of success over the years.
Bigfork has debated upgrades to its ag- ing high school for over a decade but has been unable to gain voter approval.
Nearly seven years ago, the school dis- trict failed twice in five months to pass a bond for high school renovations. Ad- ministrators followed a similar strategy as the latest effort, hiring an architecture firm to analyze needs and costs over 18 months. The district proposed an $11.1 million bond for the high school and a $5.5 million bond for the middle school.
Barely 52 percent of eligible voters responded in October 2007, passing the middle school bond but narrowly reject- ing the high school request. The final vote for the high school funds was 1,249 for and 1,333 against, a difference of 84 votes.
Five months later, administrators gave it another shot with their second re- quest, but this time the answer was more resounding. A total of 1,458 voters reject- ed the bond request while 1,209 support- ed it.
Now, according to administrators, the situation remains the same and in some ways has worsened.
The roofs over the gym and 10,000-square-foot shop need replac- ing. Other infrastructure elements, such as the heating system, are outdated and expensive to maintain. Special educa- tion classes take place in former storage rooms, which has a direct impact on the 14 percent of students who are enrolled in special education classes in Bigfork. There is only one bathroom in the high school that can privately accommodate students in wheelchairs. There are also no proper handrails or ramps that are handi- cap accessible. There is one science lab but
it has antiquated ventilation. Bathrooms throughout the school are similarly inad- equate along with the locker rooms.
“We’ve actually done a pretty good job of using our general budget to fix some of our needs, like replacing some of the heat- ers. But the costs to just maintain an old building get to be more and more,” Jen- sen says. “We’re at a point where we could keep pouring money into this building or we could just do it right.”
There’s also another growing issue — the lack of space.
Enrollment in Bigfork has now risen for five straight years after seeing a consis- tent drop a decade ago. Last year Bigfork’s elementary district had 556 students, 18 more than a year ago and 64 more than in 2004. The high school had 296 students, 10 more than a year ago but 79 fewer than in 2004. Projections show the district’s enrollment could hit 1,123 students with- in 10 years, according to CTA’s report.
Most of the classrooms can barely fit 20-25 students and some do not have windows. The high school does not have enough space for its current student body and classes have been moved to the adja- cent middle school building. Out-of-dis- trict transfer students — who encompass roughly 20 percent of the high school en- rollment — are no longer being accepted because of a lack of space.
Another class was moved into the crammed industrial building between the high school and middle school, which was built in 1954 and now houses welding, art and shop classes. Band students squeeze between instruments that stuff the music classroom.
Between the high school, middle school and elementary school, there is one cafeteria, and it’s not uncommon for stu- dents to eat in the hallways or other vari- ous places, Jensen says.
“I really have to give credit to our staff. Look at how well we’re doing consid- ering the situation,” Bigfork High School Principal Alan Robbins says. “We’re try- ing to have a true 21st century classroom education and it’s pretty obvious when you see the spaces we’re limited with kids being able to do group work and hands-on learning, and that’s important.”
Jensen said the goal of the workshops is to collaborate with the community and develop common solutions for the school. By doing this, he hopes the community will find solutions that voters would be willing to support through a possible bond.
“We’re very conscientious that when we go to the voters, the scope of the proj- ect will be adequate and fit our commu- nity,” he says. “We’re looking at what’s the most cost efficient way to reduce the over- all maintenance costs that we will con- tinue to have and to find what spaces will be more financially beneficial to make im- provements that will save us money in the long run.”
The latest Bigfork school communi- ty meeting is scheduled for April 16 from 6-7:30 p.m. inside the gym. Community members are also welcome to tour the school with administrators. Call 406-837- 7400.
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