Angela Brandt
Havre Daily News
abrandt@havredailynews.com
The Havre Public Schools board will see a new face at its next meeting: financial planner Gus Sharp.
Sharp received 412 votes in Tuesday's election.
Incumbent Todd Hanson, a local businessman, will return for another three-year term after receiving 377 votes.
Three mill levies on the HPS ballots passed. A three-year elementary reserve levy, which will total $550,000 and pay for half the costs of replacing the Havre Middle School roof passed with 496 votes.
Two three-year mill levies to help fund technology maintenance and upgrades for Havre schools also passed.
Sharp said he wanted to run for a seat on the board to give back to the community and the school system. Six of his children are Havre High School graduates and another is a junior at HHS.
The new board member said he is looking forward to learning more about the schools by working with administration and other board members.
“This is where the fun ends and the work begins,” Sharp said today.
Hanson said he's looking forward to continuing his work with Havre Public Schools.
“I'm excited by the opportunity to have another three years to spend doing the work for the community,” Hanson said today.
Hanson said one of the “greatest challenges” HPS faces is to both attract and retain quality, highly qualified teachers with its current funding and resources.
He said he looks forward to using new funding to implement the No Child Left Behind and Indian Education for All mandates.
Shad Huston, who works for his family's business, received 300 votes and Montana State University-Northern education professor Curtis Smeby had 214 votes.
Incumbent Havre High School District A representative Aileen Couch ran unopposed and received 10 votes.
Out of 7069 eligible Havreites, 733 voted in Tuesday's election. Voters could pick two of the elementary district candidates.
HPS superintendent Kirk Miller said he pleased with the support of the community.
“I believe our entire community has a vision of the education of our kids and their support at the polls is greatly appreciated,” Miller said today.
A new pitched roof like those at Havre High School, Lincoln McKinley Primary School and Sunnyside Intermediate School will cost about $750,000 to $1 million. The reserve fund levy is the first phase of the district's fundraising for the project. The $550,000 will be banked until another levy is voted on in three years.
Elementary schools will receive $80,000 annually and Havre High School will receive $40,000 yearly, thanks to the passage of two technology levies. The elementary levy passed with 493 votes, and the high school levy passed with 508 votes. The money will be used to purchase and maintenance of equipment, including computers and wireless Internet access points.
In Harlem, newcomers Timothy Carse and Katrese Doney Hammond were elected for three-year terms on the Harlem Public Schools board. Each of the new board members received 124 votes.
Box Elder Public Schools will have two new board members. Incumbent Barbara Friede, who received 53 votes, will return for another three-year term. Newcomer Timothy Koop won with 49 votes for a three-year term and Connie Morsette received 56 votes for two-year term.
Out of eight candidates on the Rocky Boy Public Schools ballot for two three-year terms, incumbents Debbie St. Pierre and Theodore Edward Whitford Sr. were re-elected. Whitford had 92 votes and St. Pierre received 91 votes.
In the Cottonwood Elementary School election, incumbents Kimberly Faechner, who was on the ballot for a three-year term, and Christine Inman, who was running for a one-year term, and newcomer Kevin Maruska, who was on the ballot for a two-year term, all ran unopposed. Cottonwood Elementary School clerk Beverly Peterson said voters wrote in the names of other candidates, but those votes did not count because the candidates did not sign a declaration of intent by the deadline, which was Monday. A two-year building reserve levy on ballot for a total of $18,840 passed with 24 votes for and two against. The levy funds will go toward remodeling the school for handicap accessibility and maintaining the facility.
In Chinook, voters passed all three levies on the ballot. A one-year mill levy of $66,833 for the high school district passed with 218 for the levy. Another one-year $24,231 mill levy for the elementary school district passed with 144 votes. The levy funds will establish a budget to provide heating, supplies, textbooks and general maintenance of the facilities. An elementary building reserve levy, which will total $150,000 over five years, will go toward purchasing equipment and remodeling the district's property and buildings. The current building reserve levy, which voters passed in 2001, expires this year. Incumbents Kraig Hansen and Jeannie Powell were elected for three-year terms. Mike Copenhaver won the three-year seat representing Elementary District 24, Lloyd School, on the high school board with six write-in votes.
In the Hays/Lodge Pole election, challenger Toby Werk earned 100 votes and defeated incumbent Gene Helgeson, who got 80 votes. Werk will serve a one-year term. Thirteen candidates vied for two three-year term positions. Voters chose newcomers Kenneth Morin, who received 60 votes, and Hawkan Haakanson, with 39 votes.
Turner Public Schools will have a new board member. Kevin VanValkenburg was elected with 47 votes for a three-year position on the board. Incumbent Randy Maloney received 33 votes. Voters passed two technology levies of $7,500 a year per district for the elementary and high school districts for the next three years. The technology levy funds will be used to purchase, rent, repair and maintain equipment, including computers and computer networks. The levies are a renewal of existing levies that expire this year.
In Big Sandy, incumbent Laura Boyce will return to the high school district for another three years after she was appointed by the board because she was the only candidate for the position. Incumbent Thad Willis will return for another three-year term after receiving 108 votes. Challenger Darin Genereux gathered 89 votes. A one-year, general fund mill levy for the elementary district for $38,589 passed with 148 votes for and 49 against. Results for the high school general fund one-year levy of $8,008 were not available.
Violet Davey, who ran unopposed and received all 10 votes, will return to the Davey School board for another three-year term. A building reserve fund levy of $10,000 passed with 10 votes, the levy will go to maintaining and repairing the roofing and siding on the school's buildings and equipping the classrooms.
