Building maintenance tax levy campaign begins

A campaign to extend the functional lives of the Libby School District buildings is underway. Voters will be asked to approve a $4.1 million bond, restricted exclusively to building repair and maintenance, to be paid back over a five-year term.

“We are not in a crisis yet,” said superintendent Craig Barringer. “But we are heading in that direction without significant work to our infrastructure. Doing it now it will be cheaper than having to do it later.”

A Feb. 9 report in The Western News detailed the condition of Libby’s school buildings, referencing a 2010 district facility evaluation conducted by CTA Architects, in which each of the district’s facilities was rated on the Facility Condition Index, or FCI. The FCI is a calculated ratio of repair cost to replacement cost. Facilities with an FCI rating of more than .25 are considered to be in poor condition. 

Each of Libby district’s six facilities was rated at .25 FCI or more. Libby Elementary scored .25, Plummer rated .3, Libby Middle/High School came in at .32. The Central School and McGrade had ratings of .33 and .34 respectively, with Asa Wood receiving a rating of .56, which places it in the category for immediate replacement.

The largest expenses are the roofs for the elementary school and the middle/high school, which total more than $1.5 million. The roof for the Central School will cost another $102,400.

The floors in both the elementary and middle/high schools were also noted as specific problem areas in the committee’s report. The middle/high school gym floor has several dead spots and is unlikely to survive another sanding. The elementary school gym floor is warped to the point that it cannot be repaired again, it needs replaced, Barringer said. The tile in both the middle/high school and the elementary school is wearing to the point the original patterns cannot even be discerned and has been patched with non-matching tile in several spots.

The sidewalks and parking lots are also in need of repair and replacement, Barringer said. Replacing the sidewalks at the elementary and middle/high school is estimated to cost slightly more than $100,000, with another $172,000 needed to resurface the school parking lots.

“I feel that our current school buildings are getting to the point were we need to do some major upgrades to ensure that these buildings will still be functioning for another 20 to 30 years,” said Libby Elementary School vice principal Scott Beagle. “Unfortunately, these upgrades are high dollar projects that require assistance from our community. We pride ourselves in the quality of education that the students receive at Libby Public Schools. We have wonderful students who are instructed by fantastic teachers. The school district is seeking to have our buildings renewed to improve overall school climate and learning environment to promote a higher sense of school pride in our students and community. New roofs, sidewalks and parking lots are not improvements that are real spectacular, but are a necessity to quality education. We want to put the this money into our schools now before there is real damage to the structures. We feel if we wait any longer and have more extensive or permanent damage to the buildings we could be looking at twice as much money to repair damages.”

In addition to saving money in the long term, Barringer said improving the structural condition of the schools and grounds could assist the community with economic development endeavors.

“I also see this investment as an economic development investment,” he said. “If we are going to entice businesses and new families in our community our schools need to be in a condition that a family would want to come into our school. We have one chance to make a good first impression and if our facilities are patched together we will have a hard time selling the quality of education we do have in Libby.”

The levy, at the full $4.1 million, will cost taxpayers $89.30 per year on a home with a taxable value of $100,000. The bond would be satisfied completely in five years. The election will be held the first week in May in conjunction with the district trustee election.