Helena school district seeks better communication after social media dispute with commissioner

But the city was not on track to approve the parking lot rezoning until just ahead of the start of school this month despite initial applications being filed in April, according to city documents.

With students incoming, and a warning written to the city that HPS would have to have a back up plan in place, HPS moved dirt to create a parking lot ahead of that approval, saying it would wait until it had a city rubber stamp to open it to students, HPS Superintendent Rex Weltz said in an interview Wednesday.

On Monday, city commissioners raised their eyebrows at the speed of the parking lot’s completion, calling it “irregular.” While the city was reminded of HPS’s school start deadline, the Commission thought HPS had acted too fast with too little oversight; some commissioners doubled down after some neighbors of the school said they were concerned with city code not being met.

Officially, HPS was allowed to do “dirt work” and excavation, city engineer Kyle Holland said, and a permit wouldn’t be issued until 30 days after the zoning change.

The zoning change was approved in a 4-1 vote despite some reservations from commissioners. Some pointed out that the zoning was a separate issue from HPS’s speedy construction process. They ended the discussion saying they wanted City Manager Alana Lake and staff to work with HPS to prevent a “not great” situation from happening again.

“They didn't intend to violate the process, but I feel like they kind of did intend to move it along without …” City Commissioner Ben Rigby said, gesturing to the room. “They knew what they were doing.”

“What do we expect from the school district moving forward?” City Commissioner Sean Logan said. “Something to think about.”

The next day, Logan took to social media scolding HPS for what he called the district defying “city standards, processes or third party adjudicated standards because they didn't want to have to wait.”

“They just did it,” Logan wrote Tuesday. “None of us necessarily like being regulated but it's part of life. So, moving forward, my question is this. Is this ignoring of building and development standards and lack of public notification what we are to expect from Helena Schools with the over 1/4 of a billion dollar construction of the new high school and elementary schools?”

Shortly after, HPS released a lengthy statement, detailing multiple meetings with city staff and public outreach, including documents on the district's Facebook page. Logan would apologize Wednesday following a talk with Weltz.

“While I may disagree about some of the things he said, he did voice some serious concerns about the post and me in particular - along the lines of my post was accusatory, emotionally charged and not consistent with what Helenans expect of their local elected officials,” Logan wrote in response to the district's rebuttal. “He also expressed that social media shouldn't be the place used by one institution to confront another. On both counts he's spot on and I agree with him 100%. I've been in public service for some time and should have known better."

For Weltz, the problem isn’t the hesitation from public officials — it's the communication, both in how informed elected officials are and how they go about expressing their worries, he said Wednesday.

He questioned how there could be so much discussion with department staff, which he described as "phenomenal," and so much surprise from the city commission. 

“I’m concerned about their concerns,” Weltz said.

With several meetings having been held between city staff and HPS, Weltz and HPS spokesperson Taylor Lassiter protested the allegation the district had been working behind the city’s back. As mentioned by city staff, HPS had warned the city that it would have a back-up plan if the city did not approve a parking lot permit before school started.

The district has also been working with established construction officials who had advised to prepare the parking lot ahead of approval, saying it would be more cost and time efficient, Weltz said. HPS also staunchly maintained it was following safety codes, even if they clashed with city regulations.

HPS staff pointed to screening at the temporary parking lot, saying it would not make sense to install city-mandated trees that blocked security cameras intended to keep an eye on student safety.

“I have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours with city staff,” said the owner's construction representative for the bond projects, Hulteng CCM President Shane Swandal. “No one can say we haven’t been communicating. I’ll call them to the mat on that one.”

The bottom line for Weltz was that HPS doesn’t have the time to wait for lengthy city processes.

With a complex mix of deadlines attached to the bond requirements, HPS is required by law to be speedy with its construction, he said. Weltz said he expects the city to understand that HPS is under unique circumstances.

“If someone says, ‘You’re not special; everybody has to follow the same rules,’ I would say, 'I got 8,000 special reasons, and they're kids,” Weltz said.

Weltz said he will push for a better working relationship between the city and HPS as it begins a series of projects with the $283 million bond. Public questioning between one institution and another can spread misinformation, he warned. He did meet with Lake to start the day Wednesday, he said.

“When you clean the garage out, it looks like hell when it's thrown out in the driveway, but it looks a lot better when it gets restacked back inside,” Weltz said. “And I think we're restacking.”

Lassiter confirmed Wednesday that plans were in place for regular meetings with city officials, including Logan. City spokesperson Amanda Opitz said a letter the district sent to the city Wednesday "spurred some fruitful conversations," and both said there would be a joint statement released on Thursday.

“If there’s a city official that has a question, pick up the phone,” Weltz said. “Period.”