Belgrade to AA

The place for news, information and discussion of High School Sports.

Moderators: rtb, kmax, SonomaCat

User avatar
VimSince03
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 9442
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2014 5:43 pm

Belgrade to AA

Post by VimSince03 » Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:35 am

I know this has already been talked about but it will have an impact as it takes another Class A school away from the ranks. The entire class alignment for Montana football will need a reboot in a few years anyway.
https://twitter.com/NickPetraccione/status/953517421087768576


"There's two times of year for me: Football season, and waiting for football season."

User avatar
RickRund
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 7315
Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:08 pm
Location: Post Falls ID

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by RickRund » Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:12 pm

VimSince03 wrote:I know this has already been talked about but it will have an impact as it takes another Class A school away from the ranks. The entire class alignment for Montana football will need a reboot in a few years anyway.
https://twitter.com/NickPetraccione/status/953517421087768576
Had no idea there has been that much growth. I guess that means that just Belgrade has grow so much to warrant the move...
How large is Bozeman High School now and what will be the approximate enrollments for Bozeman and the second high school?


msubobcats@outlook.com
Audiatur et altura pars: Let both sides be fairly heard.
Audi alteram partem: listen to the other side.

User avatar
BelgradeBobcat
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 8131
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: Belgrade, Montana

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by BelgradeBobcat » Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:18 pm

https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/n ... 8062c.html

https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/n ... 02bb1.html

At the start of this school year, Bozeman High had 2,168 and Belgrade High had 917. By 2020, Bozeman is projecting to have about 2400 high school students when the new high school opens. I know Belgrade has well over 1000 kids in the 4 grades right below high school.

Belgrade is holding off going AA for as long as possible. It's going to be tough in sports for a while. They will probably be the smallest AA school at least for a few years. It'll be Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Kalispell, Helena, Butte...and Belgrade as the AA school districts.


Belgrade is big enough to have a AA school, but not big enough to have a stop light in its downtown. The only AA city that's not a county seat. There's just no other place like it in Montana. It will be the first school in Montana to go through all four classes-C to B to A to AA. I remember when Belgrade went from B to A in the late 80's and went through a stretch where they didn't win a football game for about 3 years. I hope they're set up better this time. Adding wrestling several years ago did help their football program a lot.

It's exciting and terrifying all at the same time.



User avatar
RickRund
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 7315
Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:08 pm
Location: Post Falls ID

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by RickRund » Wed Jan 17, 2018 8:04 pm

Thanks... When I was in Livingston, 70-82, I think they were always C... Amazing growth!!


msubobcats@outlook.com
Audiatur et altura pars: Let both sides be fairly heard.
Audi alteram partem: listen to the other side.

John K
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 8620
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:04 am
Location: Great Falls MT

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by John K » Thu Jan 18, 2018 2:59 pm

So I suppose that means that Butte High will be moved back into the Western Division, with 8 teams in each division. I wonder if AA will over go back to having divisional basketball tournaments again, rather than the playoff format that they've used for many years? The AA and C classifications are getting larger, while the A and B ranks continue shrinking. Where is the new Bozeman high school going to be located?



User avatar
BelgradeBobcat
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 8131
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: Belgrade, Montana

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by BelgradeBobcat » Thu Jan 18, 2018 6:02 pm

John K wrote:So I suppose that means that Butte High will be moved back into the Western Division, with 8 teams in each division. I wonder if AA will over go back to having divisional basketball tournaments again, rather than the playoff format that they've used for many years? The AA and C classifications are getting larger, while the A and B ranks continue shrinking. Where is the new Bozeman high school going to be located?
With the new Bozeman and Belgrade, AA will have 16 schools? So 8 team Western and Eastern Division tournaments would seem to make sense. Maybe Belgrade can host one in the fabulous Belgrade Special Events Center. That'd be cool!
The new high school will be between Cottonwood and Flanders Mill Roads along West Oak Street I believe. There's site plans buried in this document:



User avatar
BelgradeBobcat
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 8131
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: Belgrade, Montana

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by BelgradeBobcat » Thu Jan 18, 2018 7:28 pm

So will there be any more new AA schools in the not too distant future? Is Billings going to need a 4th AA school west of Billings West? Or will the new high school in Lockwood that's been talked about pick up the slack. How big will that one be?
No other A schools are very close to the A-AA cutoff.



grizband
BobcatNation Team Captain
Posts: 713
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2005 9:32 pm
Location: Missoula, MT

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by grizband » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:06 pm

BelgradeBobcat wrote:So will there be any more new AA schools in the not too distant future? Is Billings going to need a 4th AA school west of Billings West? Or will the new high school in Lockwood that's been talked about pick up the slack. How big will that one be?
No other A schools are very close to the A-AA cutoff.
If Billings sustains growth, I expect both another west end AA school, and a class A/B Lockwood school will be necessary.



grizband
BobcatNation Team Captain
Posts: 713
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2005 9:32 pm
Location: Missoula, MT

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by grizband » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:08 pm

VimSince03 wrote:I know this has already been talked about but it will have an impact as it takes another Class A school away from the ranks. The entire class alignment for Montana football will need a reboot in a few years anyway.
https://twitter.com/NickPetraccione/status/953517421087768576
Vim, what is the possibility of Montana adding another large school classification? With growth in Bozeman and Billings, could a "AAA" league be a possibility in the future? Basically, the largest 8-10 AA schools, then AA would combine the remaining AAA, along with the largest current A schools?



User avatar
Hawks86
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 10588
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 3:27 pm
Location: MT

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by Hawks86 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:01 pm

grizband wrote:
VimSince03 wrote:I know this has already been talked about but it will have an impact as it takes another Class A school away from the ranks. The entire class alignment for Montana football will need a reboot in a few years anyway.
https://twitter.com/NickPetraccione/status/953517421087768576
Vim, what is the possibility of Montana adding another large school classification? With growth in Bozeman and Billings, could a "AAA" league be a possibility in the future? Basically, the largest 8-10 AA schools, then AA would combine the remaining AAA, along with the largest current A schools?
When Bozeman splits they'll be towards the bottom of AA in enrollment for awhile.


"I'm a Bobcat forever its in my soul..."

KittieKop
BobcatNation Hall of Famer
Posts: 3746
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:03 pm
Location: Helena

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by KittieKop » Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:17 pm

East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.


"It was like a coordinated effort by the Missoulian and the police to bring UM Football program down..." eGriz 11/30/12

Now where did I leave my tinfoil hat?

Image

User avatar
HelenaCat95
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 6936
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 1:13 pm
Location: Helena, Montana

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by HelenaCat95 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:17 pm

KittieKop wrote:East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.
According to the IR this morning, they would be hoping to open in 2020, and they said it would be a single A school.
It won't just effect Helena High, it would probably cause a boundary adjustment that would even out the enrollments at both Capital and Helena High. It also takes resources (athletic and non-athletic) away from both Capital and Helena High (in the form of reduced tax base). It also does nothing to improve the facilities (academic and athletic) at Capital and Helena.....both of which are in need of major upgrades.

From an athletic standpoint, the only positive thing it does (in my mind) is give more kids an opportunity to play Varsity Sports. But if you ask me, the negatives all the way around outweigh the positives. I hope that East Helena votes it down.......but I doubt that they will. I anticipate that they will pass it.



HowardRoss280
BobcatNation Letterman
Posts: 199
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2017 3:01 pm

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by HowardRoss280 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:45 pm

HelenaCat95 wrote:
KittieKop wrote:East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.
According to the IR this morning, they would be hoping to open in 2020, and they said it would be a single A school.
It won't just effect Helena High, it would probably cause a boundary adjustment that would even out the enrollments at both Capital and Helena High. It also takes resources (athletic and non-athletic) away from both Capital and Helena High (in the form of reduced tax base). It also does nothing to improve the facilities (academic and athletic) at Capital and Helena.....both of which are in need of major upgrades.

From an athletic standpoint, the only positive thing it does (in my mind) is give more kids an opportunity to play Varsity Sports. But if you ask me, the negatives all the way around outweigh the positives. I hope that East Helena votes it down.......but I doubt that they will. I anticipate that they will pass it.
Very true. More kids would get a chance to play varsity sports which is good, but both Helena schools aren’t overflowing with talent. I’d say both schools have about the average amount of talent every year as the rest of the AA. And taking funds away is not good. I believe Vigilante Stadium is the only field in the AA without turf, which is very sad considering both programs have been extremely successful. And having grass isn’t a bad thing, but that field is despicable.



User avatar
HelenaCat95
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 6936
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 1:13 pm
Location: Helena, Montana

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by HelenaCat95 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:57 pm

HowardRoss280 wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
KittieKop wrote:East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.
According to the IR this morning, they would be hoping to open in 2020, and they said it would be a single A school.
It won't just effect Helena High, it would probably cause a boundary adjustment that would even out the enrollments at both Capital and Helena High. It also takes resources (athletic and non-athletic) away from both Capital and Helena High (in the form of reduced tax base). It also does nothing to improve the facilities (academic and athletic) at Capital and Helena.....both of which are in need of major upgrades.

From an athletic standpoint, the only positive thing it does (in my mind) is give more kids an opportunity to play Varsity Sports. But if you ask me, the negatives all the way around outweigh the positives. I hope that East Helena votes it down.......but I doubt that they will. I anticipate that they will pass it.
Very true. More kids would get a chance to play varsity sports which is good, but both Helena schools aren’t overflowing with talent. I’d say both schools have about the average amount of talent every year as the rest of the AA. And taking funds away is not good. I believe Vigilante Stadium is the only field in the AA without turf, which is very sad considering both programs have been extremely successful. And having grass isn’t a bad thing, but that field is despicable.
Absolutely true. I believe that Helena has the worst AA facilities in the state. After Bozeman gets turf, Vigilante will be the last one.....and it has that awful track turf down the home sidelines, which is an accident waiting to happen. In addition, the grass is grass in August, weed patch in Sept/Oct, and mud in November.

But I'm not just referring to athletic resources, I'm referring to academic resources. With lower enrollment at Capital and Helena, and reduced tax base, it will get tougher and tougher to justify new equipment purchases, like microscopes or computers - fewer kids and fewer resources. Also, what will this do to the non-athletic programs, like Speech and Debate and some of the Choirs - programs that are having a tough time hanging on as it is.
While I do like more kids having more chances, you're correct in that the Helena Valley's talent pool will get spread over 3 schools instead of two. That combined with what it will do to HHS and CHS athletically AND academically are the reasons that I hope East Helena doesn't do it.
I'd love to hear some good reasons why an East Helena High School is a good idea.



User avatar
allcat
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 8688
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:13 pm
Location: 90 miles from Nirvana (Bobcat Stadium)

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by allcat » Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:43 pm

HelenaCat95 wrote:
HowardRoss280 wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
KittieKop wrote:East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.
According to the IR this morning, they would be hoping to open in 2020, and they said it would be a single A school.
It won't just effect Helena High, it would probably cause a boundary adjustment that would even out the enrollments at both Capital and Helena High. It also takes resources (athletic and non-athletic) away from both Capital and Helena High (in the form of reduced tax base). It also does nothing to improve the facilities (academic and athletic) at Capital and Helena.....both of which are in need of major upgrades.

From an athletic standpoint, the only positive thing it does (in my mind) is give more kids an opportunity to play Varsity Sports. But if you ask me, the negatives all the way around outweigh the positives. I hope that East Helena votes it down.......but I doubt that they will. I anticipate that they will pass it.
Very true. More kids would get a chance to play varsity sports which is good, but both Helena schools aren’t overflowing with talent. I’d say both schools have about the average amount of talent every year as the rest of the AA. And taking funds away is not good. I believe Vigilante Stadium is the only field in the AA without turf, which is very sad considering both programs have been extremely successful. And having grass isn’t a bad thing, but that field is despicable.
Absolutely true. I believe that Helena has the worst AA facilities in the state. After Bozeman gets turf, Vigilante will be the last one.....and it has that awful track turf down the home sidelines, which is an accident waiting to happen. In addition, the grass is grass in August, weed patch in Sept/Oct, and mud in November.

But I'm not just referring to athletic resources, I'm referring to academic resources. With lower enrollment at Capital and Helena, and reduced tax base, it will get tougher and tougher to justify new equipment purchases, like microscopes or computers - fewer kids and fewer resources. Also, what will this do to the non-athletic programs, like Speech and Debate and some of the Choirs - programs that are having a tough time hanging on as it is.
While I do like more kids having more chances, you're correct in that the Helena Valley's talent pool will get spread over 3 schools instead of two. That combined with what it will do to HHS and CHS athletically AND academically are the reasons that I hope East Helena doesn't do it.
I'd love to hear some good reasons why an East Helena High School is a good idea.
I think most of your reasons for no are very inflated, I really don't see less microscopes, etc. The reason I'm going to vote against it is I think it is just an ego trip for E Helena. The small schools consolidate for money reasons and those kids have to travel a lot. E. Helena kids only have to travel 10 miles. Quite a few of the high school kids are from Montana City, which actually belong to Jefferson County.


Geezer. Part Bionic,. Part Iconic

91catAlum
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 9697
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2010 4:41 pm
Location: Clancy, MT

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by 91catAlum » Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:55 pm

HelenaCat95 wrote:
HowardRoss280 wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
KittieKop wrote:East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.
According to the IR this morning, they would be hoping to open in 2020, and they said it would be a single A school.
It won't just effect Helena High, it would probably cause a boundary adjustment that would even out the enrollments at both Capital and Helena High. It also takes resources (athletic and non-athletic) away from both Capital and Helena High (in the form of reduced tax base). It also does nothing to improve the facilities (academic and athletic) at Capital and Helena.....both of which are in need of major upgrades.

From an athletic standpoint, the only positive thing it does (in my mind) is give more kids an opportunity to play Varsity Sports. But if you ask me, the negatives all the way around outweigh the positives. I hope that East Helena votes it down.......but I doubt that they will. I anticipate that they will pass it.
Very true. More kids would get a chance to play varsity sports which is good, but both Helena schools aren’t overflowing with talent. I’d say both schools have about the average amount of talent every year as the rest of the AA. And taking funds away is not good. I believe Vigilante Stadium is the only field in the AA without turf, which is very sad considering both programs have been extremely successful. And having grass isn’t a bad thing, but that field is despicable.
Absolutely true. I believe that Helena has the worst AA facilities in the state. After Bozeman gets turf, Vigilante will be the last one.....and it has that awful track turf down the home sidelines, which is an accident waiting to happen. In addition, the grass is grass in August, weed patch in Sept/Oct, and mud in November.

But I'm not just referring to athletic resources, I'm referring to academic resources. With lower enrollment at Capital and Helena, and reduced tax base, it will get tougher and tougher to justify new equipment purchases, like microscopes or computers - fewer kids and fewer resources. Also, what will this do to the non-athletic programs, like Speech and Debate and some of the Choirs - programs that are having a tough time hanging on as it is.
While I do like more kids having more chances, you're correct in that the Helena Valley's talent pool will get spread over 3 schools instead of two. That combined with what it will do to HHS and CHS athletically AND academically are the reasons that I hope East Helena doesn't do it.
I'd love to hear some good reasons why an East Helena High School is a good idea.
One reason is that it will ease the overcrowding at both HHS and CHS.


Image

User avatar
HelenaCat95
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 6936
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 1:13 pm
Location: Helena, Montana

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by HelenaCat95 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:55 pm

allcat wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
HowardRoss280 wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
KittieKop wrote:East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.
According to the IR this morning, they would be hoping to open in 2020, and they said it would be a single A school.
It won't just effect Helena High, it would probably cause a boundary adjustment that would even out the enrollments at both Capital and Helena High. It also takes resources (athletic and non-athletic) away from both Capital and Helena High (in the form of reduced tax base). It also does nothing to improve the facilities (academic and athletic) at Capital and Helena.....both of which are in need of major upgrades.

From an athletic standpoint, the only positive thing it does (in my mind) is give more kids an opportunity to play Varsity Sports. But if you ask me, the negatives all the way around outweigh the positives. I hope that East Helena votes it down.......but I doubt that they will. I anticipate that they will pass it.
Very true. More kids would get a chance to play varsity sports which is good, but both Helena schools aren’t overflowing with talent. I’d say both schools have about the average amount of talent every year as the rest of the AA. And taking funds away is not good. I believe Vigilante Stadium is the only field in the AA without turf, which is very sad considering both programs have been extremely successful. And having grass isn’t a bad thing, but that field is despicable.
Absolutely true. I believe that Helena has the worst AA facilities in the state. After Bozeman gets turf, Vigilante will be the last one.....and it has that awful track turf down the home sidelines, which is an accident waiting to happen. In addition, the grass is grass in August, weed patch in Sept/Oct, and mud in November.

But I'm not just referring to athletic resources, I'm referring to academic resources. With lower enrollment at Capital and Helena, and reduced tax base, it will get tougher and tougher to justify new equipment purchases, like microscopes or computers - fewer kids and fewer resources. Also, what will this do to the non-athletic programs, like Speech and Debate and some of the Choirs - programs that are having a tough time hanging on as it is.
While I do like more kids having more chances, you're correct in that the Helena Valley's talent pool will get spread over 3 schools instead of two. That combined with what it will do to HHS and CHS athletically AND academically are the reasons that I hope East Helena doesn't do it.
I'd love to hear some good reasons why an East Helena High School is a good idea.
I think most of your reasons for no are very inflated, I really don't see less microscopes, etc. The reason I'm going to vote against it is I think it is just an ego trip for E Helena. The small schools consolidate for money reasons and those kids have to travel a lot. E. Helena kids only have to travel 10 miles. Quite a few of the high school kids are from Montana City, which actually belong to Jefferson County.
I don't think it's inflated at all. What's going to happen when you take that tax base out of the Helena district? What's going to happen when you take 500-600 kids (according to the IR) out of the ANB for the 2 existing High Schools? You still have to maintain 2 High Schools, with less money from taxes and less money from the ANB to do it.
I do agree with you on the ego trip. The only reasons I've heard for building an East Helena H.S. are for "East Helena Pride" reasons, and so they don't have to travel to Helena. Where are those kids and their parents travelling to for work anyway......Helena. There aren't very many jobs in E.H.
Anyway, not arguing with you Allcat (especially since it seems we're on the same side)...just my two cents.
I'm still hoping to hear some good reasons why it's a good idea. I haven't heard that would change my mind yet.

edited to fix a spelling error
Last edited by HelenaCat95 on Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.



User avatar
HelenaCat95
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 6936
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 1:13 pm
Location: Helena, Montana

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by HelenaCat95 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:57 pm

91catAlum wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
HowardRoss280 wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
KittieKop wrote:East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.
According to the IR this morning, they would be hoping to open in 2020, and they said it would be a single A school.
It won't just effect Helena High, it would probably cause a boundary adjustment that would even out the enrollments at both Capital and Helena High. It also takes resources (athletic and non-athletic) away from both Capital and Helena High (in the form of reduced tax base). It also does nothing to improve the facilities (academic and athletic) at Capital and Helena.....both of which are in need of major upgrades.

From an athletic standpoint, the only positive thing it does (in my mind) is give more kids an opportunity to play Varsity Sports. But if you ask me, the negatives all the way around outweigh the positives. I hope that East Helena votes it down.......but I doubt that they will. I anticipate that they will pass it.
Very true. More kids would get a chance to play varsity sports which is good, but both Helena schools aren’t overflowing with talent. I’d say both schools have about the average amount of talent every year as the rest of the AA. And taking funds away is not good. I believe Vigilante Stadium is the only field in the AA without turf, which is very sad considering both programs have been extremely successful. And having grass isn’t a bad thing, but that field is despicable.
Absolutely true. I believe that Helena has the worst AA facilities in the state. After Bozeman gets turf, Vigilante will be the last one.....and it has that awful track turf down the home sidelines, which is an accident waiting to happen. In addition, the grass is grass in August, weed patch in Sept/Oct, and mud in November.

But I'm not just referring to athletic resources, I'm referring to academic resources. With lower enrollment at Capital and Helena, and reduced tax base, it will get tougher and tougher to justify new equipment purchases, like microscopes or computers - fewer kids and fewer resources. Also, what will this do to the non-athletic programs, like Speech and Debate and some of the Choirs - programs that are having a tough time hanging on as it is.
While I do like more kids having more chances, you're correct in that the Helena Valley's talent pool will get spread over 3 schools instead of two. That combined with what it will do to HHS and CHS athletically AND academically are the reasons that I hope East Helena doesn't do it.
I'd love to hear some good reasons why an East Helena High School is a good idea.
One reason is that it will ease the overcrowding at both HHS and CHS.
First good reason I've heard.
I would rather that the entire valley pool it's resources and fund upgrades of HHS and CHS. But that's just my opinion.



91catAlum
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 9697
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2010 4:41 pm
Location: Clancy, MT

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by 91catAlum » Tue Feb 13, 2018 4:04 pm

HelenaCat95 wrote:
91catAlum wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
HowardRoss280 wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
KittieKop wrote:East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.
According to the IR this morning, they would be hoping to open in 2020, and they said it would be a single A school.
It won't just effect Helena High, it would probably cause a boundary adjustment that would even out the enrollments at both Capital and Helena High. It also takes resources (athletic and non-athletic) away from both Capital and Helena High (in the form of reduced tax base). It also does nothing to improve the facilities (academic and athletic) at Capital and Helena.....both of which are in need of major upgrades.

From an athletic standpoint, the only positive thing it does (in my mind) is give more kids an opportunity to play Varsity Sports. But if you ask me, the negatives all the way around outweigh the positives. I hope that East Helena votes it down.......but I doubt that they will. I anticipate that they will pass it.
Very true. More kids would get a chance to play varsity sports which is good, but both Helena schools aren’t overflowing with talent. I’d say both schools have about the average amount of talent every year as the rest of the AA. And taking funds away is not good. I believe Vigilante Stadium is the only field in the AA without turf, which is very sad considering both programs have been extremely successful. And having grass isn’t a bad thing, but that field is despicable.
Absolutely true. I believe that Helena has the worst AA facilities in the state. After Bozeman gets turf, Vigilante will be the last one.....and it has that awful track turf down the home sidelines, which is an accident waiting to happen. In addition, the grass is grass in August, weed patch in Sept/Oct, and mud in November.

But I'm not just referring to athletic resources, I'm referring to academic resources. With lower enrollment at Capital and Helena, and reduced tax base, it will get tougher and tougher to justify new equipment purchases, like microscopes or computers - fewer kids and fewer resources. Also, what will this do to the non-athletic programs, like Speech and Debate and some of the Choirs - programs that are having a tough time hanging on as it is.
While I do like more kids having more chances, you're correct in that the Helena Valley's talent pool will get spread over 3 schools instead of two. That combined with what it will do to HHS and CHS athletically AND academically are the reasons that I hope East Helena doesn't do it.
I'd love to hear some good reasons why an East Helena High School is a good idea.
One reason is that it will ease the overcrowding at both HHS and CHS.
First good reason I've heard.
I would rather that the entire valley pool it's resources and fund upgrades of HHS and CHS. But that's just my opinion.
There's not much room to expand either school. And there's no reason to think the population will stop growing. If there isn't a new high school built for 2020, what will HHS and CHS look like in 10 years? CHS is already bursting at the seams.

There's pros and cons either way. But I'm not sure that ignoring future growth of student population is the way to go. Just my opinion.


Image

User avatar
allcat
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 8688
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:13 pm
Location: 90 miles from Nirvana (Bobcat Stadium)

Re: Belgrade to AA

Post by allcat » Tue Feb 13, 2018 5:32 pm

HelenaCat95 wrote:
allcat wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
HowardRoss280 wrote:
HelenaCat95 wrote:
KittieKop wrote:East Helena is floating a bond to build its own high school this spring as well, which if successful, affects the Helena high schools. I haven't heard any projections if a EH high school is built, what the anticipated enrollment would be. But it would siphon a good chunk of kids out of Helena High and would probably force a shuffling of the elementary schools and which middle school those feed into. I assume both Helena schools would remain AA, but Helena High would drop back probably closer to 1,200 or so. Just spitballing, but I assume an EH high school would probably fall into the single A (500-800 kids) - just a guess.
According to the IR this morning, they would be hoping to open in 2020, and they said it would be a single A school.
It won't just effect Helena High, it would probably cause a boundary adjustment that would even out the enrollments at both Capital and Helena High. It also takes resources (athletic and non-athletic) away from both Capital and Helena High (in the form of reduced tax base). It also does nothing to improve the facilities (academic and athletic) at Capital and Helena.....both of which are in need of major upgrades.

From an athletic standpoint, the only positive thing it does (in my mind) is give more kids an opportunity to play Varsity Sports. But if you ask me, the negatives all the way around outweigh the positives. I hope that East Helena votes it down.......but I doubt that they will. I anticipate that they will pass it.
Very true. More kids would get a chance to play varsity sports which is good, but both Helena schools aren’t overflowing with talent. I’d say both schools have about the average amount of talent every year as the rest of the AA. And taking funds away is not good. I believe Vigilante Stadium is the only field in the AA without turf, which is very sad considering both programs have been extremely successful. And having grass isn’t a bad thing, but that field is despicable.
Absolutely true. I believe that Helena has the worst AA facilities in the state. After Bozeman gets turf, Vigilante will be the last one.....and it has that awful track turf down the home sidelines, which is an accident waiting to happen. In addition, the grass is grass in August, weed patch in Sept/Oct, and mud in November.

But I'm not just referring to athletic resources, I'm referring to academic resources. With lower enrollment at Capital and Helena, and reduced tax base, it will get tougher and tougher to justify new equipment purchases, like microscopes or computers - fewer kids and fewer resources. Also, what will this do to the non-athletic programs, like Speech and Debate and some of the Choirs - programs that are having a tough time hanging on as it is.
While I do like more kids having more chances, you're correct in that the Helena Valley's talent pool will get spread over 3 schools instead of two. That combined with what it will do to HHS and CHS athletically AND academically are the reasons that I hope East Helena doesn't do it.
I'd love to hear some good reasons why an East Helena High School is a good idea.
I think most of your reasons for no are very inflated, I really don't see less microscopes, etc. The reason I'm going to vote against it is I think it is just an ego trip for E Helena. The small schools consolidate for money reasons and those kids have to travel a lot. E. Helena kids only have to travel 10 miles. Quite a few of the high school kids are from Montana City, which actually belong to Jefferson County.
I don't think it's inflated at all. What's going to happen when you take that tax base out of the Helena district? What's going to happen when you take 500-600 kids (according to the IR) out of the ANB for the 2 existing High Schools? You still have to maintain 2 High Schools, with less money from taxes and less money from the ANB to do it.
I do agree with you on the ego trip. The only reasons I've heard for building an East Helena H.S. are for "East Helena Pride" reasons, and so they don't have to travel to Helena. Where are those kids and their parents travelling to for work anyway......Helena. There aren't very many jobs in E.H.
Anyway, not arguing with you Allcat (especially since it seems we're on the same side)...just my two cents.
I'm still hoping to hear some good reasons why it's a good idea. I haven't heard that would change my mind yet.

edited to fix a spelling error
What I was trying to get across is that they already don't spend the resources wisely. By your reasoning the more the overcrowding, the better the components ie the microscopes. That's where I see the inflation of your no reasons. I don't think the Helena schools have the best stuff in the state even though they have those E. Helena kids. I'm also not trying to argue, just don't see many of your reasons as valid to not build. I just don't see the valid reasons to build as you stated.


Geezer. Part Bionic,. Part Iconic

Post Reply