School Board seeks trustee nominations

Somers School District’s school board is currently accepting nominations for two trustee positions to serve on the board for three years.

Nominees must be registered to vote and be a resident of the school district. School board trustees are not required to have children enrolled in the district.

Nomination forms may be picked up from Diane Fetterhoff, District Clerk at Somers Middle School. Nominations are due by March 29.

During their meeting on Feb. 21 the district also discussed ways to prepare for the May 8 election resolutions, the levy election, and trustee election.

No set amount of funding has been set for the levy election as the district is still determining their exact needs, according to superintendent Casey Love. Levy funding needs will be determined by subcommittees within the school board.

In other Somers School District news, the board approved two out-of-district transfer requests. This approval allows two students from Kalispell’s school district to attend SMS during the upcoming year.

As a formality, the board also turned down six transfer requests from students within their district to attend school in Kalispell.

“Us disapproving it doesn’t mean anything. We really don’t like our kids to attend any other district,” Love said. “It’s just kind of a way that we can voice our opinion, but it doesn’t make any difference as long as D5 (Kalispell) accepts them.”

Student enrollment numbers determine the amount of state funding each school receives. Enrollment at Lakeside Elementary is up from last year and Somers Middle School is down 23 students due to a small sixth grade class.

Overall attendance for the district is up by 16 compared to this time last year.

The next board meeting will be March 20 at 6 p.m.