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Whitefish Elementary School District board meeting, Aug 11, 2026

1 h 24 min · 0 public speakers

Reading and test scores ▶ 6:05Safety, weapons and police ▶ 36:08

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 24 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Whitefish board takes up final '26-'27 budget and credit card vendor change 43:11

  • The board heard reports on a state-funded summer literacy and math program, summer maintenance work and the high school expansion project. 6:05
  • The board also took motions on the emergency operations plan, a switch of the district's credit card vendor to Glacier Bank and out-of-district enrollment applications. 38:14
  • A district staff member presented the final budget for the '26-'27 school year, described a 3.14% increase over last year's budget and recommended approval, and a motion to approve was made and seconded. 43:11
Item by item (15)
  1. Opening, district goals and minutes 0:03
    • The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance, and a speaker read the district's goals, including that each student will improve academically each year. 0:03
    • The board moved to the approval of 4 sets of minutes, the first from its July 14th business meeting. 1:09
  2. Administrator introductions and meeting procedure 2:27
    • The presiding speaker introduced a new principal and a new head principal at the middle school. 2:27
    • The presiding speaker said that, on the attorney's advice, action items will now be presented, followed by public comment and then board questions and discussion all at once. 3:54
  3. State-funded summer learning program report 3:20
    • A staff member said the program was a Montana state-funded program of 120 hours over 5 weeks designed to strengthen literacy and math skills for incoming kindergarten and 3rd grade students. 6:05
    • The presenter said 55 students entered the program and 46 completed it, an 83.6% completion rate. 6:05
    • The presenter said 83% of participating kindergarten students showed growth in foundational literacy skills. 6:05
  4. Facilities update 9:22
    • The district's maintenance director said the department has 3 full-time members, and a retired assistant performed wall repairs and touch-ups in over 70 classrooms. 9:49
    • The maintenance director said gym floors at all 3 schools were refinished, close to 600 filters were changed and all 26 drinking fountains were serviced. 11:51
    • Asked whether testing had to be done annually, a staff member said it was supposed to be every 4 years and that the state had not sent a request to test again. 17:53
  5. High school expansion update 21:20
    • The presenter said approved use of contractor contingency on the academic side changed by roughly $450,000, including an electrical reroute and a damaged storm drain repair. 21:33
    • A presenter said total spending to date was $7,749,891, roughly 21% of overall project funding, with total remaining owner contingency of $1,166,089. 21:58
    • The presenter said the practice fields were sodded, stadium lighting was installed and milestones remained on track. 27:02
  6. Emergency operations plan 36:08
    • A staff member asked for approval of the emergency operations plan for the '26-'27 school year and described minimal changes, including name updates and removal of outdated evacuation sites. 36:20
    • A motion to adopt the plan as presented was made and seconded. 38:14
    • The staff member said an alert heard during the meeting was the district's emergency communication system accidentally set off by a staff member. 38:32
  7. Strategic governance calendar 39:38
    • A speaker presented a draft strategic governance calendar arranged so items are reviewed at work sessions and approved at business meetings. 39:47
    • A speaker noted that trustee school visits occur in October and the November entry is a report on those visits. 41:32
  8. Final budget 42:53
    • A district staff member presented the final budget for the '26-'27 school year and said the high school general fund receives the highest increase, approximately $400,000, due to enrollment growth. 43:11
    • The staff member said personnel expenses account for over 90% of expenses and the district has approximately 250 employees, about 236 FTE. 44:02
    • Darcy Schellinger asked for a motion, and a motion to approve the budget as presented was made and seconded. 51:18
  9. Credit card vendor change 51:38
    • A district staff member recommended switching the district's credit card vendor from First Interstate Bank to Glacier Bank, citing customer service, 1% cashback and fewer online platforms. 52:10
    • The staff member said the district would seek a total credit line of $150,000, with monthly spending of $50,000 to $60,000 on average. 53:34
    • A motion to approve as presented was made and seconded. 59:35
  10. Out-of-district student approvals 59:59
    • Administration recommended approval of several out-of-district student applications in grades from kindergarten through 11th grade. 1:00:04
    • Darcy Schellinger said they seconded the motion. 1:01:12
  11. Out-of-district enrollment denials 1:01:16
    • Administration recommended denying out-of-district applications because adding students would exceed 87% of the accreditation cap for the grade level. 1:01:29
    • A speaker said 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 7th grades are full. 1:03:44
    • Darcy Schellinger announced that the denial was approved, with everybody in favor. 1:04:20
  12. Personnel recommendations 1:04:41
    • The staff member said the coaches' fall kickoff meeting would include updates on hiring processes. 1:06:58
    • Quincy Bennetts moved to approve as presented. 1:08:30
    • The presiding speaker said all members voted in favor. 1:08:38
  13. Reports and announcements 1:08:46
    • A speaker thanked participants in the board retreat and said it helped plan the year. 1:10:54
    • A speaker invited trustees to a welcome back breakfast on August 24th at Muldown because of the high school expansion project. 1:12:16
  14. Prior year budget and debt review 1:17:22
    • A district staff member said the district came in slightly under budget across funds and underspent the building reserve funds. 1:17:29
    • The staff member said the new high school bond had no principal reduction in its first year, only interest payments of about $1 million, and the principal reduction this coming year will be about $1.2 million. 1:19:22
    • The staff member said outstanding debt is about $56 million and the district is very low compared to its bonding capacity. 1:20:06
  15. Consent agenda and adjournment 1:23:11
    • A motion to approve the consent agenda as presented was made and seconded. 1:23:24
    • The presiding speaker said all members voted in favor of the consent agenda. 1:23:27

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “Whitefish School Board Business Meeting August 11, 2026”