Bond issues on the ballot in Polson

Last Tuesday night, about 35 volunteers took to the streets of Polson, before flooding the community with around 3,000 brochures that explain the two bond issues voters face in the current election.

Polson School Board member Devon Cox helped muster the troop of parents and kids, and felt good about the positive feedback they received.

He said many people were enthused about the new career center the high school bond would finance. The two-story structure would house classrooms for metal fabrication and manufacturing, construction trades, computer applications, robotics, electronics, tourism and hospitality trades, and the arts.

“The idea of students being able to learn skills that make them readily employable seemed to resonate with potential voters,” Cox said.

Improving school safety also topped voters’ concerns. “Unfortunately, I think recent school shootings are on the minds of the people we talked to,” Cox said. “Making sure that our buildings are updated to protect our kids is important to people in the community.”

The only drawback was the price-tag: $23,315,000 in the elementary district, which includes Cherry Valley, Linderman and the middle school, and $16,645,000 in the high school district.

Even so, he heard voters say that “the current bond proposal, although not cheap, is worth keeping kids safe.”

He also noticed that elementary students who helped deliver brochures understood that “every door we knocked on could be the vote we need to see a better and safer school.”

The kid brigade wasn’t shy about telling people to get their ballots in the mail by April 28, he added.

The feedback was similar in all the neighborhoods they visited, Cox said, which indicates to him that the efforts to involve community members in crafting the plans – “some of whom previously opposed the bond measures” – is making this third iteration more palatable to voters.

The proposal the committee and district came up with “is definitely void of extravagances but will give us solutions to the issues the district faces. I think if it passes we will have a product that we can be proud of.”

Community partners

Shauna Rubel and Becky Dupuis, both members of the Polson School Improvement Committee, say committee members worked hard to trim $10 million from last year’s proposal, which failed by 44 votes in the elementary and 242 in the high school district, with a 46% voter turnout.

Formed last fall, the committee includes a mix of community members, school board members, and school officials.

Rubel, the branch manager at Glacier Bank, and Dupuis, co-owner of Polson Theatres, each took a pragmatic approach to the proposals.

“We’ve met so many times and gone back to the architect on many occasions to say there’s got to be a more cost-effective way to do this,” said Rubel. “We kept pushing back on things and saying what can we do differently to meet our goal?”

Cost-saving measures included shaving $2 million off the 12-room high school addition by having it constructed of metal instead of traditional bricks and mortar; and saving $3 million by repurposing and remodeling a lecture room and lab for music classes, instead of building a new space for choir and band students.

At the elementary level, budget-trimming measures include the decision not to move fifth grade from the middle school to Linderman, nor to move second graders back to Cherry Valley, which reduced the number of new classrooms required in each building.

According to Dupuis, the finished product “has no fluff.”

“There is not a single thing here that we’re doing that I don’t think that we absolutely have to do if this school district is going be a success,” she added.

The projects address a mix of deferred maintenance and new construction, with an eye toward the future, they say. In that vein, Cherry Valley will have enough room to accommodate pre-kindergarten classes, if such a move is mandated by the state. And the emphasis on career-education in the high school not only gives kids a head-start on careers, but also provides incentive to finish school.

“If you want to be plumber, electrician, or diesel mechanic these classes can help you go directly to your job or trade school,” said Dupuis.

“Statistics show if you have really strong career and tech education in your school your kids are more engaged,” added Rubel. “They want to be there.”

The nuts-and-bolts issues addressed include better access for students with disabilities, adding and updating bathrooms, and replacing the outdated kitchen at the middle school, which prepares breakfasts and lunches for all schools in the district, with a modern commercial kitchen. The project also would expand and improve the common area, where it currently takes three hours to serve lunch to all the middle school students.

Bathrooms, say Rubel and Dupuis, are a major issue for kids and teachers. In a recent survey asking middle school students what improvements mattered most, the majority said better bathrooms.

When the sewer backed up recently at Linderman, teachers had to escort students to and from the bathrooms in the new gym. For those students who are educated in Linderman’s modular units, teachers have to make a choice if a student has to go to the bathroom, said Rubel: “Do I leave the room unattended or do I take the whole class?”

Fixtures and facilities have slowly eroded over the years, accumulating in schools that are between 75 and 32 years old. At the same time, enrollments have gradually increased, forcing the district to buy or rent modular classrooms to handle the overflow at each building.

As to improving school security, both women say that strikes a chord with parents, especially with the spate of recent school shootings. In Missoula a few weeks ago, Hellgate High School was locked down for about three hours due to threats made on social media. And Cherry Valley “had a very plausible threat” a few years ago, said Rubel. “That was scary.”

With most school entrances unsecured, and the district’s modular units with no security at all, parents are right to worry they say. “We have got to secure our schools,” Rubel said.

Dupuis, who is a graduate of Polson, says people worry about the increase in property taxes that would accompany passage of the bond issue. She points out that payments would appear at the same time repayment of a previous bond will disappear from tax statements.

As a business owner, she calculates tax payments for the movie theater will increase around $3,500 a year.

“That’s huge. It’s a big commitment,” she said. “But we can’t let these safety and security issues go on any longer. We need to make our kids and our teachers safe, and to make this a community that people want to live in.”

High schoolers invited to vote

Committee members say outreach efforts have included meeting with “every group that will listen to us,” and spreading the word via print, radio and social media. High school students have also been visiting local businesses and sharing concerns about their school.

According to PHS teacher Katrina Venters, about a dozen students, all members of the Polson chapter of the National Honor Society, participated for their spring service project.

“The students were all well-received and several business owners thanked the kids for coming to speak with them,” she said.

Last Thursday, during a high school assembly for this year’s crop of graduating seniors, students received voter registration forms. At the close of the assembly, Principal Andy Fors pointed out that last year’s bond election for the elementary lost by a small margin.

“There are more than enough eligible voters sitting right here that can influence this thing one way or the other,” he told the seniors.

He also reminded students that voting is “a step into adulthood.”

“Take advantage of an opportunity that’s right in front of you to get registered and voice your opinion in this matter,” he said.

For more information, or to calculate tax liability, head to www.polson.k12.mt.us/bond. Ballots must be returned no later than 8 p.m. May 2 to the Lake County Election Office and should be mailed by next Friday, April 28. Those who haven’t received a ballot, want to register, or want to turn in their ballots in person, should visit the Lake County Election Office, located in the courthouse.