District shelves plans for new elementary for now
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
July 24, 2008
With hopes for a requested $12 million federal appropriation dwindling, Libby school officials are taking a longer-term look at plans for a new elementary school.
During a meeting last week, the school board agreed to discontinue a series of bi-weekly meetings started this spring after a request was made to U.S. Sen. Max Baucus for $12 million to fund construction of a replacement for Asa Wood Elementary. Baucus had expressed concerns about safety at the school last winter after snow-removal equipment knocked a hole in an exterior wall and exposed hazardous vermiculite insulation.
Baucus recently announced that he had included $400,000 for the district in an appropriations bill, but the board acknowledged that those funds would fall far short of paying for construction of a new school building. Board member Lee Disney said the district needs to ¡§come back to reality.¡¨
¡§I think the meetings were legitimate on the outside chance that we were going to get some magic money,¡¨ he said.
The district can¡¦t justify the expense of a new school when enrollment is expected to continue to decline for the next several years before leveling out, Disney said. He suggested the board might look at a proposal he had presented previously to consolidate all students in two buildings, with kindergarten through seventh grade at the middle school and grades eight and up at the high school.
The special committee meetings served their purpose, board member Tracy Comeau said.
¡§We¡¦re probably at a point where if somebody came to us and said ¡¥Here¡¦s $12 million; what are you going to do with it?¡¦ we¡¦ve got a plan,¡¨ she said.
In addition to the vermiculite issue, concerns have been raised about overdue maintenance, inadequate climate control and electrical systems, and obsolete design at the 55-year-old Asa Wood building. The district could probably keep using the building for another 20 years, but upgrades would be like ¡§throwing money to the wind¡¨ if the board decides to vacate the school in the near future, said superintendent Kirby Maki said.
Board member Paula Darko-Hensler suggested it might be time to seek a bond issue to pay for a new school. She pointed out that with the exception of an addition to the high school two decades ago, district taxpayers haven¡¦t had to pay for any major building projects for many years.
¡§The whole community is used to having somebody else pay, and the rubber¡¦s hit the road,¡¨ she said.
The board decided to start working on a five-year facilities plan, with meetings to be held at 5:30 p.m. preceding regular monthly meetings at 7.
In other business, the board:
ƒÜ Approved a $2,000 pay raise for Maki for the 2008-2009 school year. The raise represents ¡§a little bit more than 2 percent¡¨ of Maki¡¦s salary, noted board chair Jerry Frament. The board also agreed to develop a formula for the superintendent¡¦s salary based on its contracts with other administrators.
ƒÜ Approved a proposal from high school principal Rik Rewerts to lower graduation requirements for a general education diploma from 24 credits to 23. Rewerts said the reduction will help reduce the dropout rate and is still more than the 22 or 22.5 credits required by other Class A schools and well ahead of the state minimum of 20 credits. The change will directly affect four students in the coming school year, Rewerts said. ¡§Those four now if did lower it could make it,¡¨ he told the board. ¡§Whether they will or not is their choice.¡¨
Ć Approved an increase in student meal charges to meet rising costs. Breakfast prices will increase from 90 cents to $1 at the elementary and middle schools and from $1.95 to $2.05 at the high school. Lunch will increase from $1.75 to $1.85 at the elementary, from $1.85 to $1.95 at the middle school, and from $3 to $3.10 at the high school.
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Editor¡¦s Note: See the July 21, 2008 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Monday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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