KALISPELL — You can find a group of high school students walking the streets on Saturday mornings in Kalispell, knocking on doors, trying to persuade voters to vote "yes" for the upcoming high school levy.
On May 6, voters in Kalispell will decide the fate of a $2.9 million high school levy. A high school district levy hasn’t passed in Kalispell since 2007.
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“Just trying to raise support, trying to get yes votes out there to support our schools, fund our schools,” said Flathead High School student Vikram Vatti.
Vatti is a junior at Flathead High School and is part of a coalition called “One Brave Pack.”
The group is made up of community members, parents and students trying to persuade voters to support the upcoming levy.
“So far it’s been pretty positive I think; a lot of people just don’t know about its importance because they don’t know that only 80% of our schools are actually funded by the state and that 20% is actually supposed to come from levies,” Vatti said.
A high school district levy hasn’t passed in Kalispell in 18 years.
Kalispell Public Schools currently receives the lowest amount of local funding on a per-student basis compared to every other AA high school district in Montana.
“Getting people to realize what the stakes are because it is really important, and I don’t think a lot of people realize how vital it is to pass this levy,” said Flathead High School Student Lucy Downey.
Kalispell School District Superintendent Matt Jensen said 21 full-time positions will be eliminated if the levy fails, along with major cuts to popular programs including the AG Center, sports, music and theater, speech and debate and more.
“So, I think it’s really nice to actually be able to be a part of helping that ‘keep it spirt’ and ‘keep alive’ because I think that’s really important for people to have these activities to go to so they can just be well-rounded people and get to know other people," said Nat Young, a Flathead High School student.
Young said she’s canvassing to help protect her favorite school programs, Speech and Debate and music.
“And so, it’s something that you can get out and do, connect with your community and also just get your name out there to, so people know who they are helping and what they are helping us try to do,” Young said.
A home with a taxable value of $447,000 would see annual taxes increase by approximately $73.80 a year if the high school levy request is approved.
