Levies, trustees on the ballots

School elections are coming up May 2 and Whitefish School District is seeking general fund levies for day-to-day operations in addition to electing trustees.

Other districts will hold trustee elections only, including Bigfork, Columbia Falls, Fair-Mont-Egan, Smith Valley, and West Valley school districts.

Elections are canceled in Cayuse Prairie, Creston, Evergreen, Helena Flats, Kila, Marion, Olney-Bissell, Pleasant Valley, Somers-Lakeside, Swan River and West Glacier school districts due to uncontested trustee races and no levy increases that require a vote.

Whitefish School District is proposing a general fund levy of $232,100 for the elementary district. If approved, owners of homes with a taxable value of $200,000 may anticipate a $12.18 annual tax increase.

Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Whitefish School District Office, located in the lower level of Whitefish Middle School, 600 E. Second St.

Voters will also elect three trustee candidates to serve three-year terms on the board. Candidates are incumbents Shannon Hanson and Heather Vrentas in addition to Catherine Catina and Katie Clarke.

For more information call 406-862-8640 or visit www.wsd44.org.

Following is election information for area districts that have contested trustee positions:

Bigfork School District has two seats with three-year terms open. Candidates are incumbents Paul Sandry and Dana Whitney, Marie Duncan-Wagers and Monarae Tuhy.

About 4,300 ballots will be mailed out April 17 and are due by 8 p.m. May 2 at the district office, P.O. Box 188 Bigfork, MT 59911.

Incumbent Jessica Martinz will be seated by acclamation to a three-year term representing Salmon Prairie Elementary District in decisions regarding the high school.

For more information call 406-837-7400 or visit bigforkschools.org.

Columbia Falls has three seats with three-year terms open. Candidates include incumbents Dean Chisholm and Barbara Riley, Keri Hill and David Shaffer.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Glacier Gateway Elementary and from noon to 8 p.m. at Canyon Elementary School. Registered voters living in precincts 23 and 14 go to Canyon Elementary and all other precincts to Glacier Gateway.

For more information call 406-892-6550 or www.cfmtschools.net.

Fair-Mont-Egan has two seats with three-year terms open. Candidates are incumbent Jennifer Stebbins-Han, Chad Roth and Mark Thomas Siderius.

Polls are open from noon to 8 p.m. May 2 at the school located on 797 Fairmont Road in Kalispell.

For more information call 406-755-7072 or visit www.fmemontana.net.

Smith Valley has one position with a three-year term open. Candidates are Joshua Amundson and Robert Sutton.

Polls will be open from noon to 8:00 p.m. May 2 in the school gym.

For more information call 756-4535 or visit www.smithvalleyschool.org.

West Valley has one position with a three-year term open. Candidates are Tad Lisowski and Erica Wirtala.

A mail-ballot election will be held. About 2,711 ballots will be mailed out to active registered voters on April 13 and must be received by 8 p.m. May 2 at the school located at 2290 Farm to Market Road, Kalispell.

For more information call 755-7239 or visit www.westvalleyschool.com.

The following school districts have canceled elections and will seat candidates by acclamation due to the number of qualified candidates equaling the number of open positions:

Cayuse Prairie — incumbent Pam Skonord and Alicia Scofield, three-year terms.

Creston — Nancy Keeton and Julie Tikka, three-year terms.

Evergreen — Jon Wilson Sr. and Jim Waggener, three-year terms.

Helena Flats — incumbent Keith Nelson and Crystal Christoferson, three-year terms.

Kila ­— Amanda Chin, three-year term. Without enough candidates filing for open seats, someone will have to be appointed by the board to fill another three-year term.

Marion — incumbents Melissa Coscarelli, one-year term, Sandra Engeland, two-year term and Shannon Kvaalen three-year term.

Olney-Bissell — Gregory Zuckert, three-year term.

Pleasant Valley — Bambi Wilson, three-year term and incumbent Ryan Wade, two-year term.

Somers-Lakeside — incumbent Meredith Coopman, three-year term.

Swan River — incumbents Dan Elwell, Brooke Hansen, both three-year terms and Nels Hammack, one-year term.

West Glacier — Will have to appoint three people to a one-, two- and three-year term since no candidates applied.

No information was available regarding the May election for Deer Park, which has three trustee positions open for two, three-year terms and a two-year term.

Reporter Hilary Matheson can be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.

This article was updated to reflect the Bigfork School District board April 12 decision to not request a levy.