POLSON — It was a momentous day for the Polson School District on Thursday, December 14, 202, as they officially broke ground on construction at Cherry Valley Elementary School after passing two bonds last May.
Combined, the elementary and high school bonds equal $40 million in funding to drastically improve school buildings, some of which are more than 70 years old.
“This is a big day for Polson schools, our current students and future students, you know this process has been a long time coming and now we’re at a position to realize some real needed improvements to our schools and see some of those upgrades happen,” said Polson High School Principal Andy Fors.
Shovels officially hit the dirt in Polson as renovations get underway to help bring school safety up to code, addressing growth and capacity in the school district while adding advanced career and technical opportunities.
“This is all about the students, there’s a lot of adults involved in the planning but we’re doing this for the kids, and we want to make sure that we have facilities and an infrastructure to make sure that they we are providing the education that they deserve, and it’s pretty cool to see the little kids out here today you know with shovels in the ground and this is for them and they will be able to experience that in the next couple years,” added Fors.
Fors said the first phase of construction includes safety improvements at two elementary schools with updated access points into the buildings. He expects the first phase to be ready for the start of the 2024 school year.
“In the fall of 2024 we should be looking pretty good at both elementary schools and then sometime this coming spring they will break ground at the high school, and that will be a multi-year process to finish the additions there and the renovations.”
Polson School Board member Devon Cox — who has six children attending Polson schools — said the improvements being made throughout the district will impact Polson for generations to come.
“You know they will go through this school, and they will receive a better product, they will get something that they can be proud of in their community and hopefully it makes it a place that some of these kids are more willing to come back to and give back at some point in their life,” said Cox.
Fors said construction is made possible thanks to the Polson community backing the school district in such a big way.
“Across the state of Montana, this last spring there were a lot of bonds that went out for election and not a lot of them were successful and I think that just speaks to the support that we have for education here in Polson and just the wonderful backing of so many people, we’re very fortunate, we’re very appreciative of those partnerships and we’re thankful that we’re in this position today.”
