School board justifies bond

We, as members of the Whitefish School Board, feel our stewardship obligation very keenly. In order to provide the best public schools possible for our community, we have taken on the task of weighing the increasing urgency for improvement against the financial burden to our taxpayers.

Some of the impetus for action stems from our Speak Up Whitefish conversations, and from our Strategic Plan, which urges us to foster excellence within our school system.

Currently, a dedicated group of community members and high school staff is offering regularly scheduled tours of the high school facility to promote greater voter understanding of the issues. As you take the tour, consider the original cinder block structure (referred to as C wing). It was built more than half a century ago (during the slide-rule era), featuring single-paned windows, no wall insulation and minimal electrical wiring.

C wing remains essentially the same today as it was in 1954, except the former study hall/library has been subdivided into four tiny classrooms. While this structure has served the school community heroically over the years, it has plunged far into the realm of diminishing returns, as we consider soaring utility costs, potential for health issues stemming from poor ventilation, and the frustrations connected with inadequate and antiquated electrical wiring.

Thirty years ago, after the gymnasium fire, the addition of A wing, B wing, the office and the gym served to meet the immediate needs of the school community, but it did not anticipate the advancements in technology or scope of education currently expected of our system.

Since this last major construction, undertaken in 1977, many makeshift modifications have been applied to accommodate changes in the education picture. A tiny room has been retrofitted to serve as a computer lab, even though the poorly ventilated and crowded space shortens the life of the technology it houses.

In B wing, three windowless classrooms adjoin each other, carved from another former study hall area. The lunchroom just off the foyer met a similar fate, as the high school needed guidance offices and another classroom.

The need for space for specialized activity has become an overarching theme at the high school. The kitchen and food court area must be developed in support of the desired closed campus. Adequate lab facilities should serve our science programs, rather than, for example, our physics students having to use the hallway for experiments.

Our music department has been asked to shrink-to-fit, as it accommodates our budding orchestra program, as well as our drama program, within the confines of the band room and choir room. And once these students are performance-ready, there is no space within the high school where they can showcase their talents for their peers.

Additionally, with the growth of high school sports programs, locker space has become an issue, since visiting teams must have shower and dressing facilities, and simultaneously our own students, training for other sports, need those same dressing rooms.

Cost is certainly a valid concern, shared both by the board and the community at large. Fluctuating enrollment makes planning and budgeting nerve-wracking at best, but it does not in any way absolve us of the responsibility for providing and maintaining an adequate, safe public school facility.

The underlying indicator of the stability and prosperity of our community is tied to the infrastructure, of which our local school system is a large part. Reflecting on our history of major improvements, we have taken positive action roughly every 25 years, and are about five years overdue for another major improvement now, which should carry our high school forward through at least the next 25 years.

The big picture, according to professionals ranging from Realtors and investors to building contractors and developers, appears to be filled with the expectation of continued growth and rising property values. In other words, we can expect more people and a growing tax base, meaning the additional tax amount per individual property should decrease while raising the same amount of money.

If you have questions about how much the high school bond would presently cost you per year, please take a minute to visit the Whitefish High School Web site at http://wfps.k12.mt.us/wfhs, which will link you to your specific tax information at the state government office at http://gis.mt.gov.

When you compute your individual cost for the proposed high school project, please consider whether those few dollars are a worthwhile investment in the future of our neighborhood. Your vote for the bond will set the process in motion to keep our community attractive to future families.

Ruth Harrison, Pat Jarvi, Dave Fern, Eric Hosek, Mike Ferda and Shannon Hanson are members of the Whitefish School Board.