POLSON - Students are back roaming the halls this week in Polson schools with classes officially back in session.
The school district is looking to build off momentum from last spring after passing two bonds at the elementary and high school levels.
“There’s a ton of energy and excitement to start the year for lots of reasons, and one of those factors is that we passed our bonds in the spring," said Polson High School Principal Andy Fors.
Polson voters backed their school district in a big way last spring approving two bonds, providing $40 million in funding to drastically improve outdated school buildings.
“We feel the support of our community, and that’s a huge thing to know that we have people here that believe in what we’re doing and want to help us create a better environment for our students," Fors told MTN News "It goes a long ways to know that we have that community support."
Fors said the funding will go toward renovating and adding on to existing school buildings while bringing school safety up to code.
“Which is going to allow us to move all of our students under one roof, we currently have six modulars at the high school and three more classrooms in an outbuilding," Fors said. "So, to be able to get everyone under the same roof is a huge improvement for us, be able to upgrade some facilities and really focus on safety for kids and for staff members.”
English teacher Katrina Venters — who has taught at Polson High School since 2010 — says teachers and staff are building off positive momentum from last spring as they begin the new school year.
“It’s great to know that we live in a community and that I’m raising my kids in a community that really cares about our schools and our education and really our community’s future," said Venters.
Fors said the high school has dealt with teacher shortages in recent years, he hopes school upgrades will help ease that problem down the road.
“Knowing that our community supports education and that we’re going to have some updated facilities and be able to take care of our kids, hopefully, that will help us with teacher recruitment, staff recruitment and be able to retain those people once we get them here.”
If all goes as planned, renovations could begin as early as October.
“Conversations with our contractor and our architect, we’re looking at a three-year process to complete all of the projects, but we will hopefully break ground and be under construction here in the next couple of months,” Fors concluded.
