Trustees hope mail-in works

You could say Polson school district trustees are going for the trifecta.

Registered voters in the school district received mail-in ballots last week to vote on two mil levies and a bond issue, as board members are banking on a higher turnout via mail in hopes that voters will approve their requests for additional money.

At stake is $2.3 million in improvements for the Linderman school, and two maintenance and operational levies which would help the district meet rising fuel, equipment, and other costs.

The requested elementary levy of $58,868 would mean an additional one-time tax assessment of $4.87 on a home with an assessed value of $100,000, while the high school levy request of $64,207 would mean an additional tax of $4.38.

The high school levy is less per homeowner because the high school district includes homes in Dayton, Rollins and other areas north of Polson that have their own elementary districts.

The five-year bond, if passed, would mean an additional monthly tax assessment of $3.35 per $100,000 home value. The school district currently has no other outstanding bond debt after paying off the softball complex last year.

A home's taxable value is usually different from its market value.

School trustees are hoping that the mail-in ballots will improve voter turnout, which has been less than 25 percent in years past when voters were expected to go to a polling location. This year, even the trustee positions will be on the ballot, although none of the positions are contested.

"Our voting history in this community shows a low turnout. We used a mail-in ballot to give everyone a chance to vote, and we are hoping to get a better picture of how the community feels about the schools," said superintendent Sue McCormick. "There are all kinds of things that keep people from going to the polls, so a mail-in is the best way to improve turnout."

Over the past few months, school board members have been hosting informal meetings and providing tours of Linderman to show the public just what needs to be fixed. Topping the list is a leaky roof, followed by a gym floor that is 50 years old.

Other items include repair of the locker room bathrooms and showers, patching areas of the exterior of the building, and finding more storage space.

"The major need is to get that roof fixed. When it's raining or the snow is melting, there are buckets all over the school to catch the water," McCormick said.

The gym floor has been sanded and refinished so many times that more than half of the original wood is gone and nail heads are visible, although not sticking out, McCormick noted.

"We've gone through as much sanding and refinishing as we can," she said.

Although both the high school and middle school have gyms, neither one has the seating capacity to accommodate the crowds that come for Polson High School basketball games, or the other district tournaments usually held there each year. In addition to athletic events, McCormick said Linderman is the gathering spot for numerous community activities like Jump Rope for Heart, fundraisers, and other events.

"That gym is used almost every day of the year, except Christmas," she said.

While taking a tour of the school, visitors were shown boxes and boxes of copy paper stacked in the locker rooms, while classrooms had overflow items from storage closets. Some classrooms were divided in two by a portable chalkboard so that two classes could be held in one room simultaneously.

"The need for additional classroom space, and storage space, has been a big problem," McCormick said.

One concern raised by parents, though, is whether Cherry Valley students will get lost in the shuffle. McCormick said the district is committed to providing an equal educational environment, and she pointed out that Cherry Valley was the beneficiary of a new roof several years ago.

"In the summer of 200 we had to replace the Cherry Valley roof. It was leaking just as badly or worse. What this shows is that the school district addresses the most urgent needs with the money it has available," she said.

Some Cherry Valley parents have questioned whether educational issues such as all-day kindergarten will get sacrificed if the Linderman bond is approved, but McCormick said that's not the case.

"We are committed to keeping the programs equal at the district level. If we offer all-day kindergarten at one school, we will offer it at both. We are not going to implement a program that is only available to Linderman kids because of this bond," she said.

McCormick said if all-day kindergarten is eventually offered, and it causes a classroom shortage at either school, then the district will address that with public input.

"The major components of a quality education will be offered at both schools. We will not make decisions that create a disparity," she said.

If the levies don't pass, the district could be forced to make cuts in programs and activities, school board members said in a letter to the editor last week.