COLUMBIA FALLS — Deer Park School District in Columbia Falls is putting a $110,000 operational levy in front of voters this May.
Due to a decrease in state funding because of fluctuating enrollment, superintendent Charlie Wiest said the school district’s budget is decreasing by close to $13,000 for the upcoming school year.
“Possibly having to make cuts, athletic programs, our after-school program, some of the things that we do in the summer we will have to limit,” said Wiest.
School officials said a bond or levy has not passed at Deer Park School since 2001.
“Deer Park runs very lean, we have always been one of the lowest per pupil expenditures in the valley, so we use our money very wisely, but we do want to pay our teachers an adequate salary, we want to keep them here,” said Deer Park School Board of Trustees Chair Cindy Barnes.
Barnes said the school district needs to increase staff wages to meet minimum salary requirements and stay competitive with the current teaching market.
“We also want to pay our para-educators, our custodians at least a minimum of $20 an hour so that they are making more at Deer Park than they would going to fast food, and that’s the reality in this valley, fast food they advertise all the time at $17-$18 an hour, we pay $17.50.”
Wiest said funding from the levy would also allow the school district to hire a part-time maintenance worker.
“With our school being as old as it is, the upkeep if we don’t stay on top of it small problems turn into big problems really quick.”
If the operational levy request is approved, a home with a taxable value of $600,000 would see annual taxes increase by approximately $123.12 a year.
