COLUMBIA FALLS — Incorporated in 1886, Deer Park School in Columbia Falls is the oldest school operating in Flathead County.
School officials say major upgrades are needed to keep the school running for years to come.
“With the age of this building, it really is failing, and we need to replace these two classrooms; we can’t function without these two classrooms,” said Deer Park School Board of Trustees Chair Cindy Barnes.
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Deer Park School is asking voters to approve a $4 million bond on May 6 to replace the Quonset Hut and office buildings that are running out of space.
“One of the biggest components of learning music in the beginning is being able to move and feel the rhythm and feel the beat and unfortunately based on the size of the building we just don’t have a lot of room to let the kids run around,” said Deer Park School Music Teacher Paul Bruce.
Bruce teaches music in one of two classrooms that occupy the Quonset Hut.
“We had a rehearsal yesterday, we had about 30 band students in here with instruments and I actually had to rearrange the room to be able to fit them all in here,” said Bruce.
The Quonset Hut was donated to the school in the 1960s and is used for art and music classes.
The building is a converted gym and has no windows, with major electrical and plumbing issues.
“Like the lack of outlets, there’s one outlet for each classroom, that’s just not sufficient, things are starting to fall apart,” said Deer Park School parent Ashley Young.
Young has two children attending Deer Park School and is worried about their safety
“I want to know that my kids are safe here, that the staff is safe here and I want to know that it will be around for my kids for the duration of their time here.”
If the bond is approved, a new building over 6,000 square feet would be constructed that would double the amount of existing classrooms from two to four.
The building would also serve as the new administrative office space.
“We have a cot for a sick bay over by the copier, which is also by the teacher’s mailboxes, by the staff fridge, by the desk, we are always doing the juggle,” said Deer Park School District Clerk Gina Smith.
Smith said the current office building was built in the 1930s and is running out of space.
“So the bathroom does double as like the nurses’ station, we keep the band aids there, it doubles as a storage space, it doubles as a janitor’s closet,” said Smith.
If the bond is approved, a home with a taxable value of $300,000 would see annual taxes increase by an estimated $243 a year.
More information can be found here.
