The Whitefish High School expansion project is gearing up to start construction March 22, 2026, during spring break. Recent milestones this fall include completing asbestos testing in areas that will be demolished and installing pathways and infrastructure for construction. 

In the coming months, construction documents will be designed, based off of the completed developmental design, to prepare for bidding and permitting processes.  

Construction work targets the latest possible date to close access to the track as April 13, after the last track and field meet hosted, said Luke Hamman, owner's representative, at the school board meeting last week. It is possible that track practices could be held at Columbia Falls thereafter, although details are still being worked out.  

A contract modification to include deferred maintenance items in the expansion project was approved. A&E Design will provide additional services to draw and detail deferred maintenance items including replacing soffit and gutters, replacing the gym divider curtain, replacing all restroom partitions, replacing damaged countertops in the science rooms, toilet partitions in the existing restrooms, painting the exterior of the building, and repairing specific areas of the roof, and management and architectural coordination of the deferred maintenance work. Some of these items will be considered as bid alternates to the project for cost control. 

Hamman said they are considering public comments on the project’s sustainability. For example, a new boiler is needed, but efficient systems are also expensive, he said.  

“We have to evaluate those things on a case-by-case basis and make the best decision for the project in the district,” he said.  

A community meeting to update the public on the project will be on Dec. 3, at Whitefish High School from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The meeting is a good opportunity to ask designers and project team members questions. 

THE BOARD discussed if state funding is sufficient to provide adequate and equitable education for all students.  

A representative from Upper Seven Law, Andres Haladay, joined the board’s meeting virtually to share information about a recent lawsuit against the state brought by Missoula County Public Schools. The lawsuit alleges that Montana’s public school funding system is unconstitutional. The suit questions if funding is equitable and aims to provide an assessment of the existing problems in today’s system.  

The question of what a quality and equitable education entails goes back decades.  

Haladay pointed to a case in the late 1980s involving Helena Elementary School District that he said boiled down to a case of the “richer getting richer, and the poorer getting poorer,” in particular with rural school districts that didn’t have large tax bases. The outcome of the lawsuit found a better way to share resources, he said.  

In 2005, the Montana Supreme Court ordered the Legislature to define “quality,” as the result of a lawsuit brought by Columbia Falls Elementary School District. The ruling’s definition set legal standards of equality for the current funding system.  

In 2008, further litigation led to a ruling that set the path for Legislature to increase funding incrementally to keep pace with inflation and rising costs.  

Today, “it is getting harder and harder for most districts in this state to provide those services,” Haladay said. “That’s evidenced by bonding, asking taxpayers. You’re fortunate enough in Whitefish, which is fantastic of your electorate, to approve capital needs. Some places can’t. And that’s exactly where we were 40 years ago with Helena Elementary.” 

Haladay proposed that the Whitefish board consider funding.  

“Think about what you’re providing,” he said. “Think about what you’re struggling to provide. Think of the things you wish you could provide more of, whether that’s programming, paying your teachers more, or saving for capital improvements. Think about whether you can provide all of that, and plan for future needs, with the 80% base level that the state provides.”  

Trustee Darcy Schellinger asked, “Why now, when there’s a lot of momentum with funding? Is this taking away from what is happening from other lobbying groups and legislative action?”  

To prepare for the 2027 session, the Legislature has enacted a commission to complete a study, done every 10 years, to assess and make recommendations for the public school system.  

Haladay responded that the lawsuit serves as an assessment that “hyperfocuses funding discussions moving forward.”  

Trustee Rayne Beach questioned the board: “Are we adequately funded to provide quality education? We’re lucky our bond passed, so we’re doing physical changes. But where are we budget wise?” 

Whitefish Superintendent Dave Means responded, “one component that is sorely underfunded, and it always has been, is special education.”  

Schellinger also noted, “the disparity in education in 12 miles is great. And that comes back to the constitution.”