Rod Kuntz of Kalispell Montana created an avatar below (complete with a live speech which Kuntz penned see the written form below the video) and it will draw you in, teach, and inform you concerning the Kalispell school levies including the newest upcoming one entitled the “Vote Yes” school levy in ways you’ve most likely never even considered.
The real question Kuntz has for his listeners/readers is (concerning when the next levy fails) “What Went Wrong”?
Watch below then read the script to discover the most fascinating and thought-provoking analysis you will ever hear (and read) concerning Kalispell schools’ continual pleas to try to pass these ongoing school levies.
“The overwhelming rejection of the levies in the past is not a testament to a lack of support for our schools, our students, or our community, as the Superintendent suggested in Daily InterLake articles when the last levy request failed. Instead, it underscores the urgent need for accountability, and respect for the diverse voices within our valley.
If increased funding is rejected, after the schools’ needs have been expressed, it stands to reason that the community doesn’t believe the proposed solutions and their costs are the best or only solution. Rather than seeking financial fixes, now might be the time to say ‘We heard you, and we will be looking at other options to meet our critical needs and we ask for your ideas and assistance in implementing them.”
Instead, what the community heard was “students are worthy of a supportive community,” implying that if you didn’t support the levies you didn’t support the students. Further, to single out for thanks only those who “voted in support of our schools,” communicated to the community that non-supporters are not worthy of thanks, even though they may be supportive of students, schools and the community in countless other ways, including the taxes they currently pay!
This attitude was a great way of alienating future support while confirming why voters didn’t support the request to begin with.
The decisions made during the COVID-19 pandemic, guided in large part by teacher’s unions, raised concerns among our community members. While the safety of our teachers and students was paramount, it is essential to acknowledge that trust was eroded when decisions appeared to prioritize the fears of teachers over the needs of our students, concerns of parents and denial of actual science. The administration stood behind state and federal teachers unions when they should have been standing with their community members and students. A majority of the community is still waiting for school officials to acknowledge that they got it wrong, as well as an overdue apology.
I am aware that correlation is not causation, but it is not lost on me, and it should not be lost on this board, that the failure rate of the levies is almost identical to the rate of the Fathead County citizens that chose NOT to take the Covid shot and boosters (56%), a majority. When you ignore, insult, and vilify people, and then ask them for more money, the outcome may not be favorable…but it should be expected.
Efforts should start now to rebuild trust and credibility. The success of our schools, our students, and our entire community, can happen when we truly understand our failures and embrace the opportunity to learn from them.
If you want your next levy to pass, you must garner the support of those who disagreed with you on your handling of Covid, masks, and the erosion of morality with the adoption of DEI and race theory. Or continue to alienate them and wonder when the next levy fails, yet again, “what went wrong?”
-Rod Kuntz, Kalispell
