Page 11 - Flathead Beacon // 6.17.15

community
banking...
What does it mean to you?
“Community banking means being listened to.”
- MICHAEL G.
www.ThreeRiversBankMontana.com
NEWS
Kalispell Schools Planning for Future Building Needs Administrators to discuss new school site, growing facility needs at public meeting
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
Four of Kalispell’s five elementary schools are at least 60 years old and almost every site is filled to capacity as enrollment keeps growing. Kalispell Mid- dle School, with nearly 1,100 students, is the lone middle school in town and the largest in Montana. With nearly 3,000 students between the two sites, Flathead High School continues to age around its original 112-year-old footprint and even the state’s newest high school, Glacier, is approaching the 10-year-old mark.
Faced with rising enrollment and aging facilities, Kalispell school dis- trict administrators are making plans to address sizeable building needs in the near future. Superintendent Mark Flatau is inviting the community to par- ticipate in a planning effort that begins this month with a meeting on June 24. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. inside the Linderman Education Center on Third Avenue East.
The school district is organizing a group of administrators, staff and com- munity members that will tackle the challenges over the next year.
Atop the list of ideas and priorities is the development of a new school site on the south end of Kalispell. In November, voters approved the district’s acquisi- tion of a 25-acre section of land that was swapped for an adjacent 25-acre property on Airport Road. The district acquired the land using funds that accrued in its savings account.
Flatau said the planning group would help the district decide whether a new elementary school should be built or a new site that could hold kindergarten
A teacher helps a student with an assignment in a third grade class at Peterson Elementary School. BEACON FILE PHOTO
through eighth grade.
“What will we build there? That’s
what we need to talk about,” Flatau said. The development of a new school would require voter approval for a bond, similar to the funding mechanism used to build Glacier High School 10 years ago. The list of issues doesn’t end with a new school site, though. The district has a growing list of facility needs and deferred maintenance, Flatau said. Engi- neers identified an estimated $8 million in deferred maintenance at just Flathead,
he said.
The elementary sites are especially
aged. Hedges was built in 1929 and had nearly 400 students this year. Russell was built in 1940 and had over 270 stu- dents. Elrod opened in 1951 and had over 300 students this year. Peterson was
built in 1955 and had over 430 students this year. The city’s newest school, Edg- erton, was built in 1987 and had over 600 students this year. The last bond measure approved in the district was for $3.35 million in 2012 to add eight new class- rooms onto Edgerton and Peterson.
In the last 10 years, the city’s elemen- tary district has increased by 541 stu- dents, according to school data. There were nearly 2,100 students in kindergar- ten through fifth grade in Kalispell, 71 more than last year, according to the lat- est school enrollment data.
“There is a lot of things we have to look at. The important part is we want community feedback and involvement and direction from the very beginning,” Flatau said.
[email protected]
County Pays $85,000 in Discrimination Settlement Former fairgrounds employee alleges gender bias from management
BY BEACON STAFF
Flathead County paid an $85,000 set- tlement in April for a gender-bias claim from a former fairgrounds administra- tive assistant, who said the fairgrounds manager treated her unfairly.
Nuggett Carmalt, who worked for the county at the fairgrounds for 18 years, filed a complaint of gender bias against fairgrounds Manager Mark Campbell.
The complaint went to the Human Rights Bureau of the state’s Department of Labor and Industry. The settlement agreement states that no one is consid- ered at fault.
In an interview with the Beacon, Car- malt said she had several gender-related
grievances against Campbell, which she presented to the DLI. She said she didn’t want to sue the county, but she sought to be treated fairly.
“I never, ever, ever asked for money, never,” Carmalt said. “It was just about being treated the same.”
Initially, when the instances of per- ceived bias came up, Carmalt said she went to the fair board, and then to the county’s human resources department, and finally to the state’s Human Rights Bureau.
Carmalt’s attorney, James Bartlett, said his client entered mediation with the county, seeking training for Camp- bell and $2,500 for “our time.” Both Car- malt and Bartlett said they were “sur- prised” and “confused” when the $85,000
settlement was offered.
“I never thought they’d give me
money,” Carmalt said. “It was only about being treated fairly and I wanted to keep my job. I loved my job.”
Campbell did not return calls seeking comment.
The settlement was reached in April, with the payment approved by the Flat- head County Commission. The DLI dis- missed the case on April 10, once the set- tlement was reached.
As part of the settlement, Campbell and the county human resource staff will take two hours of training about discrim- ination laws.
Carmalt resigned her position with the fairgrounds in mid-April.
JUNE 17, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
11