An energetic group of folks went to work last week making suggestions to School District 6 leaders on a high school remodel.

The district is working on a scaled-back plan of the project with another bond vote planned for September.

Right now, architects from Jackola Engineering have trimmed close to $15 million from the original $84.4 million project, which was rejected by voters in November.

The cuts came in a variety of ways: A mezzanine for the Little Theater was trimmed; the library will be moved to the main floor, not elevated on the second floor as originally envisioned; the gym will be expanded to hold about 2,800 people, which is big enough to host divisional tourneys, but not as big as first envisioned; a service road from the bus garage to Talbott Road was cut as were some classrooms; and an automotive class and metal fabrication class was cut, though they can be added later or if the school moves forward with a trades academy charter school, which would mean at least some state funding.

The school’s first plan for the charter school was rejected initially by the state Board of Education last fall, but it also encouraged the school to refine its application and apply again.

The big concern from the public was communicating better with the community. Despite numerous newspaper stories, many folks claimed they hadn’t heard of the project, or they had heard wrong information about the project, when it came time to vote.

Resident Monte Moultray suggested the school create a standalone website to showcase all the top aspects of the remodel. He noted that Polson was able to get its remodel approved by voters by showcasing safety. 

The Helena District did a stand-alone website dedicated to its project, Moultray noted, with all of the information in one, easily accessible place. Columbia Falls did something similar, but it was inside the school’s own website and was hard to find, particularly by web search engines.

Helena passed  $283 million in bonds last year, which included a $240 million new high school bond and a $43 million bond to remodel three other schools.

Helena’s bond request had a similar tax impact to Columbia Falls’ initial ask, with a property tax raise of about $250 annually for a property assessed at $300,000 and a $600 annually for a property assessed at $600,000.

The original Columbia Falls bond, would have meant an estimated overall property tax increase of about $498 a year on a $600,000 home and a $216  increase on a $300,000 home for 25 years.

But since the school’s $2.7 million bond to replace the classroom wing roof will be paid off this year, the net increase in taxes on the same $600,000 home would have been about $388 a year, school district officials noted at the time.

Now with a trimmed down plan, the tax increase will be even less.

Moultray suggested safety be a centerpiece of Columbia Falls’ next remodel pitch. The current high school is porous, with 32 entrances that can’t be monitored all the time.

The remodel would create secure entrances and trim the number of them down significantly, while still meeting fire code.

Safety aside, the 65-year-old building needs heating, electrical, cooling and fire safety upgrades, like sprinklers, as well. The school could spend about $26 to $30 million on those systems without the general public seeing any real change at the school, as those improvements are hidden behind walls.

The utility savings from the upgrades should be significant. Right now, the high school electrical bill is $42,000 annually, the gas bill $75,000 annually and the water bill about $32,000 annually.

The remodel would remove the outdated gas boiler, replace the walls and windows which leak heat like a sieve with energy efficient glass and other materials, and put in a heat pump system which not only heats the classrooms, but cools them as well.

This new effort to get a bond passed has palpable energy from the community members to get a project done that will appeal to the public.

One aspect would be to also showcase the new career and technical classrooms the school has planned.

Those classes are important for the future of the blue-collar town, proponents noted.

“CTE will be helping you no matter if your kids go to school or not,” one parent said.

Two more meetings are planned and members of the public are encouraged to attend.

The next one is March 11  from 6 to 8 p.m. at the high school and a third March 18, same time. The district will look to set a final bond amount at the end of April.