Jensen, Porrovecchio to lead BHS

Matt Jensen and Matt Porrovecchio were named Bigfork High School's principal and activities director, respectively, for next school year at last week's school board meeting.

The pair have essentially held those positions in all but title for the entire school year. School Superintendent Russ Kinzer was officially the BHS principal after Thom Peck parted ways with the school days before school started.

As per the terms of a separation agreement the district entered into with Peck, the school paid his salary of $67,232, plus contributions to his retirement plan in lieu of health insurance.

Jensen, who had recently been named activities director at the time, was promoted to the assistant principal position as well, and Porrovecchio to the position of administrative assistant to help Jensen with activities director duties.

The pair have handled the day-to-day operations at BHS this school year.

"I believe both of them have worked hard and believe they did a good job and will continue to do so in the future," Kinzer said.

Things were not so clear in regard to the middle school administration, however, in the wake of principal Wayne Loeffler's resignation last week. Loeffler was recently appointed chief of the Bigfork Fire Department and opted to leave the school district, where he has worked for more than 30 years.

Kinzer recommended hiring 5th grade teacher Christy Deskins as an assistant principal for grades K-8, and changing elementary school principal Jackie Boshka's position from K-5 to encompass through eighth grade.

That recommendation, however, was met by a wave of opposition, according to PTA President Brandie Kittle.

Kittle said teachers and parents were out in force at the board's Wednesday night meeting to oppose Deskins' hiring.

"We would like a more dominant presence in the junior high," Kittle said. "We want a full-time person and would like it opened up to see what's out there."

Kinzer's proposal would have made the assistant principal position part-time and called for the hiring of a part-time activities director.

Kinzer said that recommendation was made because of declining enrollments in the schools as well as in an attempt to balance the elementary school's budget.

"We have been working on budgets for the high school and middle and elementary schools for three months," Kinzer said. "The elementary budget is still $73,000 in the red."

But Kittle said the input she has heard from plenty of parents is that a full-time middle school administrator is necessary, even at the cost of a teaching position.

"Class sizes are going down," she said. "There must be a class that can accommodate that."

After the contentious board meeting, a follow-up staff meeting was planned for Friday afternoon, but that meeting was canceled by the district in favor of private meetings.

"Some people have differences of opinion," Kinzer said. "I am meeting with groups or individuals privately, and several people have already taken me up on that."

Kinzer said the board will likely revisit the issue at its next meeting on April 15. That is one week later than usual to accommodate Spring Break.