Kalispell Public Schools plans to put a high school levy on the May ballot while addressing a roughly $2.8 to $2.9 million budget deficit by reducing teaching positions.  

At a Tuesday school board meeting, Kalispell Superintendent Matt Jensen summarized plans to cut 20.5 high school and 14 elementary positions. Those figures could change depending on the levy’s outcome, how many employees take an early retirement incentive and other staff resignations, according to district Human Resources Director Liz English. Final figures for early retirements will be available in February. 

Formal layoff notifications, reassignments and involuntary transfers will be issued in May after school elections. English said staff are being informally notified if they are getting laid off to lessen anxiety and give them time to find new jobs. 

“We wanted to be transparent, and we thought it’s the right thing to do,” English said. 

The high school district is currently 90% funded while the elementary district is 99.6% funded. Jensen and district Finance Director Chris Campbell emphasized the levy’s importance for addressing the high school district’s budget shortfall. 

“Right now, our priority is the high school levy and keeping the message [to taxpayers] simple and clear. This is where the need is,” Jensen said.  

Staff reductions may affect course offerings, but efforts are being made to minimize the repercussions. 

“We’ve committed to following the path of least negative impact. And there’s been a lot of conversations for the last year and a half on this topic. We’re committed to maintaining as many of the course offerings as we can,” Jensen said. 

“But it’s all impactful,” he added. “We want to reverse the communication and the concept here. Instead of doing what we can to survive … what does it look like when we’re thriving? What does it look like when we’re adding opportunities for our students? And we believe we can get there.” 

The levy amount has not yet been finalized. Jensen noted that Kalispell’s large tax base allows for a relatively low taxpayer cost with significant benefits for the high school district. However, in May 2024, voters rejected a $700,000 high school general fund levy request, which would have cost taxpayers who owned a $300,000 home about $12 annually. 

A general fund levy covers day-to-day costs of operating schools from salaries to utilities. 

Jensen reflected on the loss. 

“When that got voted down, I’d say it did spur some righteous anger in a lot of folks in our community,” Jensen said, raising the question, “Are our kids not worth $1 investment a month?” 

“And so it’s brought people together maybe in this initial negative emotion but in a really inspiring way,” he added. 

Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].