Columbia Falls elementary schools are cramped, but will taxpayers stomach the cost of expansion?

Finding a solution to the need for space in its two crowded elementary schools was the topic of discussion Wednesday night as Columbia Falls School District 6 hosted a planning meeting on the subject.

More than two dozen teachers, administrators and concerned citizens filled the school’s board room Wednesday to hear a report from L’Heureux Page Werner Architecture on the current conditions of Glacier Gateway and Ruder Elementary Schools and discuss a list of possible solutions.

A preliminary report from the firm detailed existing conditions at Ruder and Glacier Gateway elementary schools, stating that while both buildings are safe, they are overcrowded and in need of serious renovation.

“If you walk through both buildings, one thing you will notice it that they both look really good. They look clean. Structurally, both of the buildings are in fairly good shape. They are within code tolerances. They are well maintained. Underneath that, there are a lot of issues,” LPW’s Steve L’Heureux said.

According to L’Heureux and LPW, those issues include a lack of ventilation and insulation at Glacier Gateway as well as security and fire safety concerns.

“The site here at Glacier Gateway gives me great pause, especially when you drive a vehicle directly into the playground. There is no separation from the street and there are no barriers. Also, none of the building have fire sprinklers and there is not 360-degree access around the building for fire fighters,” L’Heureux said. “There are also long hallways with a million and one blind spots and controlling all off the access points to the building is nearly impossible.”

L’Heureux went on to say that while structurally, Ruder Elementary may be in better shape, it has just as many problems as Glacier Gateway.

“Ruder almost has more safety and security issues than Glacier Gateway, in many ways,” he said. “It’s never good to have two buildings separate from each other like that because it makes it hard to monitor. Also, the principal’s office is in a bad place, being right in the middle of the school and not at the entrance.”

Along with the problems of safety and security, School District 6 is also looking for a way to deal with the increasing student population at both schools.

According to LPW’s Tim Peterson, based on the Council on Educational Facility Planners International’s suggestion that elementary schools should provide 112 square feet of space per students, both Columbia Falls elementary schools are already over capacity. If applied to Ruder Elementary, the study suggests a capacity of 440 students while the school currently has an enrollment of 469. Glacier Gateway is currently 15 students over its capacity of 482.

Peterson pointed out that those calculations included all available space, including areas not suitable for teaching, such as closets and storage areas, so the actual space available per student is actually smaller.

Based on it’s current average enrollment increase of just under 1 percent per year, Columbia Falls would have as many as 989 elementary students by 2020 and nearly 1,100 by 2030. A 4 percent increase would mean 1,049 students by 2020 and 1,553 in 2030.

“One of the things that we need to come to grips with is what the district considers the maximum school size it wants. We don’t have that answer. It’s a comfort level question that the school needs to answer,” Peterson said.

With these issues in mind, LPW presented those at the meeting with a list of possible solutions, none of which were easy or inexpensive. The solutions ranged from simply renovating the existing facilities to possibly building as many as three new elementary schools - though that option was quickly rejected.

The five options that were not rejected outright by the panel at the meeting included:

- Building two new 600-student capacity schools

- Building two new 450-student capacity schools and reopening and renovating the Canyon Elementary School in Hungry Horse.

- Building one new 600-student capacity school and remodel Ruder to hold 600 students

- Building one new 600-student capacity school, remodeling Ruder to hold 550 students and reopening and remodeling the Canyon School

- Renovating and remodeling Ruder and Glacier schools to each hold 600 students

Other options that included more extensive renovations to Glacier Gateway were also rejected by the panel.

“My guess is that we could put $10 million into Glacier Gateway and nobody would ever know the difference,” Superintendent Steve Bradshaw said.

“I can tell you right now, in the case of Glacier Gateway, the only thing worth saving is the structure itself,” L’Heureux added. “The windows are old and thin. There is little or no insulation. The roofing needs to be replaced. There is very little of value there to keep.”

How much will all of this cost? LPW did not provide concrete cost estimates for any of the proposed plans, but the school did list a number of funding options available.

The school currently owes $1.2 million on its junior high school bond from 18 years ago. When that bond is paid off in 2020, the district could just propose a new bond at the same tax rate, which would give the school roughly $12.4 million to work with. That option would have little, if any, impact on taxes currently being paid by Columbia Falls residents.

The second option would be to levy 48 mills to Columbia Falls taxpayers, bringing in around $20.8 million, but raising taxes.

Peterson gave an estimation of what each option could provide.

“When you look at those two numbers, you should look at it this way – The $12 million probably does something like fix the two existing schools while the higher number would allow you to build a new school and fix another one,” he said.

While nothing has been decided yet, L’Heureux pointed out that community support is needed before any plans can move forward.

“What we are doing now is gathering information. There’s a lot of information that we need to find out and that we need to discuss with those involved to help with the decision making process,” he said. “None of this planning means anything if we can’t get the community to support it.”

The school is another public meeting on the matter November 28.