Mail-in ballots on bond are due by March 27

By OLIVIA KOERNIG / Whitefish Pilot

In 2003, when a $10.4 million high school bond proposal failed, school administrators faced a dilemma. Concerns about the high school were still there, but plans to address those concerns had been shot down.

Undeterred, administrators embarked on a five-year journey that culminated March 6 with the mailing of ballots for a second bond election.

"This process was a continuation of prior projects," Whitefish High School principal Kent Paulson said. "But this time, we really set about to have this modification curriculum-driven."

According to Paulson, the 2003 proposal placed a premium on the actual building itself. The approach was from a physical perspective, while for this proposal, the approach was teaching-oriented.

He met with teachers from each department within the high school to determine the school's needs. A student committee met with vice principal Jeff Peck and reported their findings to the teacher committee, which then reported back to superintendent Jerry House. Teachers and administrators also toured more than 20 schools in the northwest.

"Basically, before we were dealing with form and structure," Paulson said. "We weren't really involving curricular thoughts to the future."

He said those thoughts manifested in a heavy emphasis on technology, partly due to student input, and how to incorporate it into instruction today and in the future. Paulson said that fact alone accounts for much of the 85,473 square feet of new construction proposed.

The space will be allotted so six to eight computers can fit comfortably in each of the 46 classrooms. The rooms will range in size from 1,000 to 1,500 square feet and will also allow for alternate room configurations and differentiated instruction.

Differentiated instruction is deemed a student-need driven teaching style. It accommodates different learning styles and varying levels of prior knowledge. Under this philosophy, within one classroom, several different lessons and activities could happen simultaneously.

Yet in spite of an intense planning process, bond critics wonder if the expansive plans are driven more by a desire to "keep up with the Joneses" than actual instructional merit. One such critic is Whitefish local and two-time school board trustee Charlie Abell.

"We need to show off with our academics, not our building," he said. "Fix what needs to be fixed, and maintain what you've got."

Abell, an avid educational advocate, believes teachers affect education far more than any building ever could.

"The best way to spend that money is not necessarily in the building," Abell said.

Abell fears that increased taxable valuations coupled with higher taxes will price some quality teachers out of Whitefish. He said he paid nearly $10,000 on property taxes last year, acknowledging that not everyone can afford such high taxes.

"It's expensive to live in Whitefish," he said "If we want to attract the best teachers, we've got to pay them."

Hindsight is another major difference between planning from 2003 and today. Since the Whitefish Middle School project's completion last year, the district has learned a bit about construction within a school setting.

The district used former middle school principal Kim Anderson as a resource. In December, via e-mail, he provided a list of things he would change if they "were to do the Central project all over again." On his list was hiring an independent project manager, for which the district has already been advertising.

He also recommended installing a deadline for the project's completion with a monetary penalty clause for delays, something he said was not done with the middle school project. Another suggestion Anderson made was hiring an architectural firm "with no personal connection" to school administration or trustees.

"That's just good business, to make sure there are no strings attached," Anderson said.

Some community members are leery of the school district's involvement with Architects West since superintendent Jerry House's son-in-law works there. The firm was behind the Whitefish Middle School renovation and came up with the conceptual design for the high school. House said if the bond passes, the district will once again enter into contract negotiations with the firm.

"I'm proud of my son-in-law," House said. "He got hired there last year. They had an opening, he applied, just like anybody else."

Another lesson learned from the middle school involves student distraction. The plan calls for four construction sequences designed to minimize disruption.

If the bond passes, a new classroom wing will kick off the construction project in spring 2009. Then, classes held in the 50-year-old C-wing will move there, presumably in fall 2010. Currently the majority of the school's classrooms are in the C-Wing.

The second phase of construction will include partially remodeling 24,993 square feet of classrooms and athletic space. The third phase inovlves minimal work on 53,112 square feet.

The final phase is when C-wing will be demolished. A handful of new classrooms and offices plus a courtyard will be erected in its place.

The ballot deadline is March 27.