Somers-Lakeside School District invited residents, parents and staff to weigh in at its first community meeting on the possibility of sending its middle school students to Kalispell.

The community meeting March 14 follows three years of discussions between the district and Kalispell Public Schools. The impetus for the conversation was an aging middle school building with a long list of deferred maintenance projects and a history of failed levies.

However, last year voters approved a levy that brings in $185,000 annually to chip away at projects in both Somers Middle School and Lakeside Elementary School.

If Kalispell Public Schools gets a bond request approved in the fall, it plans to build a new middle school and elementary school on Airport Road ­— south of Kalispell and at the north end of Somers-Lakeside School District.

“The closeness of a new facility would be a very natural migration of our students to go there,” Somers-Lakeside School District Superintendent Paul Jenkins told an audience of about 40 people. “There would be more programs — all the bells and whistles.”

Jenkins envisions the middle school building being retrofitted to house third through fifth grades with kindergarten through second grade at Lakeside Elementary. A community member suggested turning both buildings into kindergarten- through fifth-grade schools.

“Whatever happens, this facility would still need an upgrade and retrofit at some time,” Jenkins said.

While Jenkins is on board with sending sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders to Kalispell, the decision ultimately rests with trustees, who want to gain a sense of what the community thinks about the proposal.

A new middle school, if built, would house between 600 to 700 students. Overcrowding at the elementary level by 200 students in Kalispell means that a new elementary would almost be half-filled on opening day. This had some audience members concerned whether or not Somers students would be able to attend a new Kalispell middle school indefinitely if Kalispell’s enrollment growth continued.

While Somers-Lakeside taxpayers would not contribute to building a new middle school, the district would lose 170 to 200 students and an estimated $1 million in state funding to educate the students to Kalispell.

The cost to educate a student in Somers-Lakeside School District for the 2014-15 school year was $8,080, according to a 2015 statistical report by the Flathead County Superintendent of Schools.

When asked how the district would make up that funding elsewhere, Jenkins said he is reaching out to the Montana School Boards Association and legislators to find out if there is legislation or a formula in place or could be put in place to address the loss of funding.

Since residents’ taxes would still go to Somers-Lakeside School District, tuition may be a component in an agreement between the two districts. Tuition is meant to recoup a portion of what would otherwise be received through taxes. Currently, out-of-district students pay $350 a year to attend Kalispell’s elementary or middle schools.

“It would be similar to the agreement we have with Creston. Creston sends 67 [students] at a tuition of $350 per student,” Kalispell Superintendent Mark Flatau said.

Jenkins said tuition costs would be absorbed in the district budget.

Losing funding and students, in addition to what one person described as the “heart of the community,” concerned community members such as Jean Barragan.

“You never let your kids go because the money goes with them,” Barragan said. “The real question is, ‘Are we giving a quality education at Somers Middle School?’ If you can say it is, then think about it. We are employing people in the community who would lose their jobs. We have to maintain this building whether we go with a new school or not. I’m in favor of we stay home.”

Somers Middle School employs 23 staff members. If an interlocal agreement — a contract between the districts — was reached, teaching positions may be cut although Jenkins said this hasn’t yet been discussed.

If Somers Middle School teachers wanted to work at the new middle school, they would have to apply for available positions through Kalispell Public Schools.

Jenkins said if Somers doesn’t send students to Kalispell, his prime concern is the district will lose students to the new school anyway.

“We’re trying to be proactive. It’s the wise way to go,” Jenkins said.

But a mass exodus may be a short-term response, others argued, using Glacier High School as an example.

Somers-Lakeside School District has faced a declining enrollment of 11 percent from 2006 to 2015. Based on the 2015 Statistical Report of Schools, 197 students living in the district were attending out-of-district schools.

Of the 197 students, 55 attended schools in Kalispell, 58 were enrolled in private schools, 31 were home-schooled and 27 were attending in Bigfork while the remaining students attended other school districts. This is countered by 20 out-of-district students who attend Somers-Lakeside School District.

A few parents in attendance March 14 spoke about wanting to ensure their children receive the best education and said they would send their children wherever they found programs in which their children were interested. They asked Flatau what types of programs would be offered at a new middle school.

Flatau said Kalispell Public Schools would try to mirror the electives and Project Lead the Way science, technology, engineering, math and medical programs currently offered at Kalispell Middle School.

Parent Kristy Wilke remarked that another consideration for parents is transportation, specifically in regard to after-school activities. Shuttling children to and from after-school activities results in a high gasoline bill, Wilke said, speaking from personal experience with children attending high school in Kalispell.

Somers resident Robert Klein countered that declining enrollment is cyclical and could bounce back. Klein was also concerned about how much local control would be given up in the process and asserted that Jenkins only provided a one-sided perspective on the positives to moving.

“I don’t care about the facility. I care about the education.” Klein said. “I think we get wrapped up in dollars and cents.”

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.