District looks at possible renovations
Bigfork schools are looking at several facilities-related projects over the coming months after being encouraged to spend the nearly $100,000 in their flexibility funds prior to this winter’s session of the Montana Legislature.
At the school board meeting last week, trustees heard reports on several projects proposed to make use of the funds that agencies such as the Montana School Boards Association are afraid will be taken away in the coming session.
“We’ve been advised to spend our flex fund money before the legislative session,” Superintendent Cynthia Clary told the board. “We want you to know we’re spending it.”
The district currently has $45,000 in the elementary account and $50,000 in the high school account, business manager Eda Taylor said. The flexibility funds hold money that can have a variety of uses and more can be added to it each year from the state combined fund school block grant money. Many districts use it for building renovation and repair projects.
The elimination of these funds and the transfer of the money back to the state was one of 17 proposed budget cuts to education presented to the association’s delegate assembly by the Montana Legislative Fiscal Division in June. It would result in $41.7 million in savings to the state.
MTSBA has recommended that districts spend their remaining flexibility funds now or risk losing them.
Three projects to spend some of Bigfork’s money were put forward at the October school board meeting. More are expected in the coming months.
One proposal is to replace the bottom cabinets in the work stations of the family and consumer sciences classroom at the high school to make them more usable and bring them up to health code standards. The cost of that project is about $10,000 and would be completed over Winter Break.
“It’s a good use of funds,” Clary said of the project.
Another project brought forward is replacing the lights in the high school gymnasium. The current lights have some wiring problems but also fail on a daily basis and take a long time to come on, activities director Matt Porrovecchio said.
“I was quite frustrated so I decided to start doing some research,” Porrovecchio said. “I just knew our lights were horrible.”
He discovered fluorescent gymnasium lights which he said are more energy efficient, put out more light and have a faster restart time than the current lights. The fixtures he’s looking at would not hang down like the current models so they would also be safer during game play. Though the bulbs themselves are slightly more expensive, Porrovecchio estimated they would result in a little over $900 in energy savings a year.
Estimates he’s gotten from contractors range from $10,000 to close to $12,000 depending on the type and number of fixtures. Because the bulbs give off more light, Porrovecchio said a row of lights could be eliminated.
One of the larger projects put forward was a proposed renovation of the elementary and middle school library.
Work on the library would include changing the lighting, installing a heating system and extending the walls to help soundproof the room. The library walls currently don’t reach all the way to the ceiling, allowing for light and heat from the hallways to enter in. With that, however, also comes the sounds from the hallway as well.
At the meeting, the board approved spending nearly $3,200 for mechanical and electrical engineering for the renovation project. Clary said this project demanded board approval because it may involve spending some of the remaining money from the elementary school bond passed in 2007.
“We have to expend a little to take the next step,” Clary said.
MATH DEPARTMENT
Board members requested a report at the next meeting on what the schools are doing in math following failure to meet adequate yearly progress, a measurement of the school’s headway in meeting goals from the federal No Child Left Behind Act, in the subject at the high school and elementary school. Bigfork Elementary School missed only in a subgroup of special education students.
“I would like a report on what we are doing, especially with what’s going on in the department at the high school,” board member Denny Sabo said.
In the consent agenda, the board accepted the resignation of Kristi Kappes, a math teacher at Bigfork High School. In a letter to Principal Matt Jensen on Oct. 1, Kappes stated she plans to leave the school Oct. 22 to move to Cincinnati, Ohio, to take an engineering position. Her position is currently posted and the district is working to hire a replacement.
Another of the school’s math teachers is preparing for maternity leave. While she’s out, that means all but one of the school’s current math teachers will be changing.
OTHER BUSINESS
The board approved the services agreement with Northwest Behavior Health for a Comprehensive School-Community Treatment program.
Letters were sent out last month to parents to educate them about the program. Fourteen students have opted to take advantage of the program, more than needed for Northwest to make the hires to have it.
“I’m delighted,” said Jackie Boshka, elementary and middle school principal. “I’d really like to have a program in each building. It’s a step in the right direction.”
The program includes group and individual therapy sessions, family therapy and support services throughout the day with a mental health worker and licensed therapist. Services are paid for through private insurance, sliding fees and Montana Medicaid.
Taylor reported that the only financial responsibility of the district is a match in support, which is done through offering the space and telephone for the program in a district building.
The board also approved a contract and billing statement for salary and travel expense for the special education director, which the district shares with Evergreen School District.