Letters to the Editor; Safety of our kids

Superior community members,

I am writing to you concerning the safety and security of our Superior’s school children. Recently, our school board voted to run a levy to raise money to replace our junior high building with an addition to the high school.

Mother Nature is often angry in Montana during winter. She dumped massive amounts of rain and snow on us this past February, which caused the junior high building to flood…twice! Two times the sewer backed up into classroom floor drains and hundreds of gallons of water and yuck had to be removed from the building. During the process of cleaning and decontaminating the building, the maintenance crew found the crawl space under the shop had filled with water. The walls on the whole west end of the building are beginning to sink and separate from the ceiling. The concrete floor over the crawl space is beginning to crumble and fall as well. This old building was originally a Super-Save grocery store built in 1961, never designed to house students, so it is not surprising that it is now seriously failing. 

Time hasn’t been kind to this building either. All three furnaces that provide heat are 53 years old (two with fireboxes that are leaking combustion gasses back into the rooms they heat) and the membrane covering  the flat roof of the building is 22 years old, cracked and leaking as well. The land the junior high sits is more valuable than the building itself!

Over a year ago, the school board began looking at ways the District could save money spent on fuel to heat all three of our school buildings. They found a company out of Missoula that practices what is called “guaranteed performance contracting.” The contractor bids a price for a project and guarantees it will come at the quoted price. They also perform an energy audit that looks at all the ways a school can save money by running more efficiently and then guarantees those savings. If the project fails to perform as promised, they are on the hook to pay the difference. This company is guaranteeing we will save over $47,000 a year on utilities on the proposed project.  We currently spend nearly $100,000 a year on fuel oil and propane to heat all three buildings.

This project is critical for the safety and security of the children of our beloved community. Superior has always taken good care of her children. Taxpayers paid for my kids’ (and now a granddaughter and great grandkids’) education. Please join me in voting for the bond levy on June 3rd. Your “yes” vote will serve as a lasting legacy for generations to come to those who will come after. Our next facilities presentation will be held on Wednesday, May 21st at 7:30 p.m. at the high school multipurpose room. Please attend and help us find the solution to this pressing problem.

Thanks for your time and your most needed precious vote.

Sheelia Miller – facilities committee member, former Montana school administrator, grandparent, senior citizen and taxpayer,

Superior