A 54 million dollar bill to cover the costs of inflation for Montana public schools passed through the legislature this past week. The bill keeps the funding for Montana public schools at the same level as previous years, by adjusting for inflation. The state will increase education funds by 2.3% and 1.8% over the next two years.
By passing the bill, the legislature has relieved many school officials from the stress of budgeting their next school year without knowing exactly how much funds they will receive.
For Bozeman Public Schools specifically, school officials have worked hard to achieve additional funding through grants and other programs, including their recent 3.3 million dollar award to fund new mental health programs in schools and their 1.3 million grant to improve student performance in mathematics. However, these people still need help from the state to maintain these programs and maintain the quality of their education overall.
As Bozeman has expanded, the local schools have hit new enrollment records, making it even more important to maintain funding and stay up with inflating costs. If the Bozeman School District wants to expand one of its middle schools and bring in new public preschool programs, proper funding will be a necessity.
Bozeman’s hard work to receive and deserve the funding from the Montana Legislature, along with its efforts to achieve additional grants has helped contribute to a 4% graduation rate improvement, the highest ACT scores in the state, and some of the highest AP exam scores in the nation.
Of course, all local, public schools in the area will see the benefits of the bill's passing. Gallatin County schools still remain top class institutions and will continue attracting new families to the area.
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