School and parent group ask for help

SUPERIOR – A group of parents in Superior and local school officials want the public to support a measure that will prevent students from having to spend any more time than necessary in a middle school that is facing structural integrity issues, prone to plumbing problems and affected by mold.

A parent group called Superior Community for Kids and the Superior School District Superintendent Scott Kinney said, while they understand some people are reluctant to vote for a levy to build an add-on to the high school to replace the aging middle school, the alternatives are undesirable.

Kristi Scott with the parent group said alternative suggestions she has heard included bussing Superior kids to other schools and repairing the existing problems at the middle school are not the solution. Scott said fixing the problems at the school would only delay the inevitable.

“It would just be a band-aid,” Scott said. “The levy is really the only option at this point. We can’t divide the kids up between the elementary school and the high school because they are already at capacity. The new facility is what is needed.”

Damage resulting from abnormally heavy precipitation last winter has exacerbated a situation that was already deteriorating at the middle school, according to school officials.

The building suffers from occasional plumbing back-ups that has resulted in raw sewage flowing through the halls. The roof leaks, floors in the shop classroom are in danger of collapsing and the building lacks sufficient power to run vital teaching tools such as computers and smart boards.

Scott said, if approved, the levy would fund four new classrooms and a few other facilities that would be built onto the existing high school gym taking advantage of construction, electrical and heating infrastructure to reduce the costs for the project.

Scott said one of the other ways the project is financially advantageous is the new heating system will drastically reduce yearly utility costs.

“With the new biomass heating system, we are estimating savings of $47,000 a year,” Scott said. “We have to start somewhere. It makes sense. We need to start thinking about the future.”

Scott said, while she understood opposing viewpoints and a lack of support for raising taxes, the estimated cost for a residential property valued at $100,000 was only 23 cents per day or $83.98 per year. Scott said another goal of the parent group and school officials was clearing up misconceptions about the proposed project.

“We want people to make educated votes,” Scott said. “Our purpose is to support our schools, our teachers, our students and our community. We are not directly affiliated with the school. This is about raising awareness.”

Examples of misinformation, according to Scott, include some believing steps have not been taken to examine alternatives to a levy. Scott said contractors were brought in to provide estimates for repairing the building. She said an independent committee of people familiar with the problems was convened to examine the situation and determined what was in the best interests for students, staff, faculty and the community was the levy option.

“We know there are a lot of people on fixed incomes,” Scott said. “But if we don’t support our kids and our schools, people will turn away. We have to have a good school system if we want people to stay here. If we want students to thrive, they have to have a safe learning environment.”

Superintendent Kinney said he fully supported the effort to pass a levy and build a new facility attached to the high school. He said fixing the existing facility would only provide a temporary fix to the problem.

“We have a deep and pressing need and this is what we think we should do,” Kinney said. “We had to use sandbags to hold back the water this year. Walls are in danger of collapse. We had a drain back-up and cause sewage to spill out into the hallway. Thankfully the kids weren’t here when that happened but if they were, we’d have to evacuate the building.”

Kinney said the plans for the add-on weren’t extravagant. He and Scott said all they are asking for is the bare minimum to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for students and staff.

“This is about the kids,” Kinney said. “We did a tremendous amount of analysis and came up with this plan. This will save the district money in the long run. We want people to have the right information so they can make an informed decision.”

The vote for the levy will take place from noon to 8 p.m. on Sept. 23 at the Superior High School multi-purpose room. More information about the levy can be found at www.facilityinfo@superior.k12.mt.us.