KALISPELL — Helena Flats School in Kalispell was originally built in 1896.
Since its inception, the K-8 school has added buildings as the Flathead continues to grow.
The school district in Kalispell is now asking voters to approve two separate levy requests this May totaling $672,157.
Those requests include the “Permission to seek to purchase acreage” and the approval to “Purchase Acreage” on 10 acres of land across the street from the existing school.
“It’s an appropriate place to build down the road. We’re not asking for a school, we’re asking for the opportunity with land to plan for the future and move forward,” said Helena Flats Superintendent Andy Maheras.
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Maheras said the school district has a contingency purchase and set price in place with the landowner if the levy requests are approved.
The 10-year building reserve levy does not include funding for construction of a new school building.
“We’re not creating more land in the valley, what we do have that’s available is getting snapped up and if the surrounding area becomes more developments, for example, and we don’t get the land, we’re going to be really busting at the seams, and I don’t know what we will end up doing but it will probably be something drastic and a bigger ask for the voters,” said Maheras.
Maheras said the existing school campus is landlocked and running out of room, limiting options for future expansion.
“Over the last couple of years we’ve collapsed classrooms, we’ve added temporary walls, we’ve added space where we could, we’ve re-purposed different spaces for classrooms just to provide an opportunity for kids to gather and learn, we’re running out.”
If the levy requests are approved, a home with a taxable value of $300,000 would see annual taxes increase by approximately $24.88 a year.
A home with a taxable value of $600,000 would see annual taxes increase by approximately $72.04 a year.
“But as we look to the future with the valley growth and the expansion throughout the valley, the opportunity with working with a willing landowner to plan for the future, it’s an appropriate place to build down the road," said Maheras.
More information on the levy requests can be found here.
