News briefs, Oct. 14

SKC offers new degrees

PABLO — Water is a key natural resource in today’s world, and with that in mind Salish Kootenai College (SKC) has received approval by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities to offer both an Associates and Bachelor of Science in Hydrology, the first such degree among the Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) in North America.

The addition of this degree program is aligned with the SKC Strategic Plan 2010-2015, which calls for the college to “Become a center of science education with an emphasis on Native American world view and application of science to indigenous issues.”

In keeping with this plan, SKC is adding this degree along with the recently added Bachelor’s of Science in Secondary Education degree, and the existing bachelor’s degree programs in Forestry, Environmental Science, Information Technology and Computer Engineering. In addition, a bachelor’s degree program in Life Science is nearly complete and expected to be accredited soon.

The addition of the Hydrology program will afford students the opportunity for interdisciplinary study of physical, chemical and biological water resources and their management. This opportunity will address the need to expand geosciences education for Native students and their communities.

Currently our nation awards only 20-30 degrees per year in the disciplines of geosciences to Native American students. Of these less than 3 percent are undergraduate degrees. This is surprising given that American Indian Tribes and Tribal Confederations exert sovereignty over approximately 20 percent of our nation’s fresh water resources.

SKC is currently accepting applications for enrollment in the Hydrology degree program. If you are interested in enrolling or wish to gather more information concerning the Hydrology program, please contact Antony Berthelote, Shandin Pete or Bill Swaney at the Natural Resources Department on the campus of Salish Kootenai College (www.skc.edu).

-Courtesy of Shandin Pete

Polson school safety

POLSON — The Polson Board of Education heard from two concerned parents at their October monthly meeting Monday night.

Tomi Todaro and Suzanne Gyzeny opened the public comment period, stating concern for the safety of their 7th grade daughters at the Polson Middle School.

According to Todaro, the board had recommended expulsion for a child who allegedly pointed a weapon and threatened to “kill” her daughter on the playground.

Todaro attended the public portion of this child’s expulsion hearing, where, after a closed session, the board concluded that pursuant to board policy, they would expel the child for 365 days. When the child showed up to school on Monday, Todaro was both furious and scared, she said, for her daughter’s safety.

“This has made me feel not only that my child is unsafe to go to school, but that [Superintendent David] Whitesell is unethical and can’t do his job right,” Todaro said to the board.

The ladies provided the newspaper with copies of letters they had written to the board. In one, Todaro stated, “With no regards to anyone else’s opinion on this, [Superintendent] David Whitesell revoked the expelling order and did not let me or anyone else know that he overturned this decision.”

In reference to their letters, Whitesell said there are some factual inaccuracies, but due to the privacy rights of the child, he cannot specify what those inaccuracies are.

“If there is a gun, or something that looks like a gun, there is federal law that requires the school to expel the student for 365 days, but it also allows the superintendent to make modifications to the disciplinary action,” he said. “Those modifications were made with the board’s acknowledgement. However, since the parents in attendance thought that he was being expelled for 365 days, when he showed up in school, they were upset.”

Board vice-chairperson Caryl Cox agreed that Whitesell had the authority to do what he did, but said that was not made clear to the parents who were present at the meeting.

“[Mr. Whitesell] did not act on his own by sweeping anything under the table,” trustee Brian Havlovick said. “We allowed him to do that when we made the motion.”

“Our mistake on this one is that we made the motion and then referenced a board policy,” chairperson Theresa Taylor said. “We should have been more specific, and not just quoted a policy.”

To clear up any further misinterpretations on the procedural aspects of the situation, the board added the issue as an agenda item at its special board meeting today at 5 p.m. in the district office.

“Every parent needs to know what’s going on,” Gyzeny said.

-Reporter Ali Bronsdon

West Swan Valley Conservation Project

HELENA — A proposal by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to approve a conservation easement of 10,000 acres in the West Swan Valley was accepted by the FWP Commission last Thursday.

FWP Region One in Kalispell recommended that the agency pursue a conservation easement, which was one of three proposed actions aimed at conserving former Plum Creek Timber Co. lands in the Swan River State Forest. Funds for the $14.8 million easement would come from the Bonneville Power Administration and potentially the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Based on the availability of the appraisal and willingness of the landowner, the FWP recommended this route to protect fisheries habitat and enable the lands to be purchased by the Montana Department of Natural Resources. DNRC would then manage the acreage as required by the conservation easement and management plan. The conservation easement ensures public access consistent with state land access rules.

The appraised value of the conservation easement was $18.26 million. The Nature Conservancy has agreed to sell the conservation easement below market value at $14.8 million, about 19 percent below market value. The $14.8 million price tag represents 68 percent of the full appraised fee value of $21.81 million.

Opportunities for additional public comment will be provided at the State Land Board meeting set for Oct. 18 in Helena.

- Courtesy of John Fraley, FWP

West Salish Point Fishing Pier project underway

POLSON — Parks Superintendent Karen Sargeant said the Salish Point Committee is in the process of designing the West Salish Point Fishing Pier, which will replace the city’s currently out of commission Salish Point dock. An artist’s depiction of the new structure is available at City Hall and will follow the basic “T” shape of the neighboring dock at the KwaTaqNuk Resort. However, it will be tailored to fishermen with tentative plans showing a wide platform with breaks in the railing and one branch of the “T” angled toward the shore in order to access some of the area’s deeper ponds.

While Sargeant attributes the dock’s poor condition mostly to old age and some severe ice storms, a boat crash and fire in recent years have certainly contributed. The boat accident occurred in 2008 with fines and insurance pay out monies from the incident having already been added to the Salish Point fund, specifically allocated toward the new dock.

“We had some of it open for a while, but then somehow it caught fire underneath,” she said.  “We wanted it to be really safe so we had to close it off.”

A very rough estimation of the new dock’s cost is in the ballpark of $180,000, Sargeant said. The city is not yet ready to build, but Sargeant hopes to start efforts to raise funds soon.

-Reporter Ali Bronsdon