Improving security large part of proposed high school remodel

A public forum last week took the first look at a remodel of the Columbia Falls High School. The focus of the discussion centered around safety and security at the school.

The school has about 25 doors currently and it’s relatively easy for someone to get in, as doors are sometimes propped or left open for various reasons. This allows people to skirt the secure entrance at the front of the building.

The hope with a remodel would be to reduce that number, while still complying with fire and safety codes and keeping a welcoming feel, so the school doesn’t look and feel like a jail. In addition, school office staff, who are charged as gatekeepers into the school, say they have no idea what’s going on at other entrances. While there are security cameras, they can’t view them in one central location, which would be helpful.

The school district currently has two school resource officers in cooperation with the Columbia Falls Police Department and school Superintendent Cory Dzwiogo said the city is working on adding a third, as they work in rotating shifts.

Another safety issue is the art annex combined with bussing. Students routinely cross in front of bus and car traffic walking back and forth from the main school building to the art annex, which is next to the bus garage.

It’s not a safe situation, noted Principal Josh Gibbs and one of his top priorities in the remodel project is to bring art classes into the main building.

Students also walk back and forth from the school to the building trades shop, where they work on cabins and other structures in cooperation with Glacier National Park. 

Reworking the traffic flow around the building could dovetail in with a city project that will soon get underway to rebuild Thirteen Street West in front of the school.

Another point of concern was keeping people off the school roof. Students have been caught up there and a few summers ago a non-student got on the gym roof and fell through a skylight and died after she fell to the gym floor below.

One teacher also said the district should consider safety in second floor classrooms, as in a dire emergency, the only way out is to jump out a window to the concrete below.

Dzwiogo said the district purposely hasn’t put a cost figure on a remodel yet, as it wanted to gather public input first. The hope, however, is to shore up a budget in the next few months, come up with a plan and bring it to a vote this fall.

Jackola Engineering and Architecture is doing the designs for the school. Shane Jackola noted at the meeting that while not all that glamorous, the school also needs to examine its heating and ventilation systems, as they play a large role in comfort and learning in the building.

The school was completed in 1959 and the first class to graduate was in 1960. The district also just recently remodeled most of the classroom wing on the east side of the building after it suffered flooding. Insurance paid for most of that cost.

While it still has “good bones,” areas are definitely showing their age. The gym floor is old and the gym itself  doesn’t have enough seating to host large tournaments. The music rooms could use remodels as well.

The school will host two more meetings in May. On May 7 the topic will be infrastructure, bonding and budget and on May 21 about 21st century learning with design and programming for students and staff.

All meetings are open to the public and start at 6:30 p.m. About 34 people attended the first session.