GREAT FALLS — Great Falls Public Schools is moving forward with discussions about asking voters for additional funding as the district prepares its budget for the 2027-28 school year.
WATCH FULL VIDEO HERE:
Following a community budget town hall Tuesday night, the Board Budget Committee voted unanimously to recommend moving forward with a levy. The amount that could ultimately be requested has not yet been finalized.
District officials stressed that the meeting was an early step in the process, rather than a final decision on what voters could eventually see on a ballot.
District points to years of reductions
GFPS Human Resources Director Heather Spurzem said it has been seven years since the district last asked voters for a levy.
“It has been seven years since we last asked for levy,” Spurzem said. “I know sometimes it feels like everyone's asking for money, but our school district has worked very, very, very hard.”
According to GFPS, both enrollment and staffing have declined in recent years.
District figures presented during the meeting show student enrollment falling from 10,242 in fiscal year 2022 to 9,669 in fiscal year 2027.
Over that same period, district staffing declined from roughly 1,367 full-time equivalent positions to about 1,283.
GFPS officials said more than 50 teaching positions have been eliminated over the last five years, with many of the reductions managed through attrition when employees retired or resigned rather than through direct layoffs.
“We've looked at every efficiency. We've dipped into our reserves,” Spurzem said. “This is the time when we need to ask our neighbors to invest in our schools.”
GFPS presents several possible budget gaps
The district's presentation also laid out several scenarios for the upcoming budget.
GFPS projects approximately $87.4 million in budget authority for the 2027-28 school year under its current assumptions.
District officials then calculated what it could cost to maintain comprehensive staffing and programming under several different cost-growth scenarios.
Under the lowest scenario, GFPS projected a gap of approximately $126,000.
If costs increase further, that projected gap could grow to roughly $826,000 under a 2% scenario or approximately $1.5 million under a 3% scenario.
Those figures are projections, not a finalized district deficit. Costs, enrollment and state funding could change before the budget is adopted.
Enrollment is particularly important because student counts factor into school funding.
GFPS presented current enrollment figures totaling 9,963 students, essentially flat overall from the previous year. But the changes differed by grade level: elementary enrollment was down 98 students, while high school enrollment increased by 73.
Federal funding is another concern. GFPS told attendees its IDEA and Title grant funding has ranged from flat to decreases of 3% to 5% during the last three years, with allocations affected in part by student enrollment.
What could a levy look like?
GFPS also presented preliminary estimates of how much additional general-fund authority could potentially be available through voter-approved levies.
The presentation estimated a potential elementary levy of approximately $930,000 and a high-school levy of about $1.26 million.
Those figures are estimates and are not finalized amounts that voters are currently being asked to approve.
Parent and teacher Laura Crist was among the community members who spoke during the meeting.
“I would just encourage the board to take the highest amount of funding that we can get from our community,” Crist said.
Crist also questioned district officials about different levy options and where additional money could be directed, including classroom programming and technology.
Technology was discussed separately during the town hall. District figures showed Great Falls' 2025 technology levy at $21.03 per student, compared with higher per-student amounts presented for several other AA school districts, including Billings, Helena, Bozeman, Kalispell and Missoula.
The final number could still change
District officials emphasized that several major variables remain unresolved.
GFPS will receive another enrollment count in February, and trustees are also watching for potential changes in state education funding.
Board Trustee Bill Bronson said those unknowns give trustees time before settling on a final proposal.
“We will have time to work out the parameters, the amounts,” Bronson said. “We will have time to monitor what the Legislature does.”
The district's presentation listed several possible approaches for balancing a projected shortfall, including spending cuts, voter-approved levies and potential changes in school funding from the Montana Legislature.
Tuesday night's vote moves the levy discussion forward, but it does not establish the final amount voters could eventually be asked to consider.
That number will continue to depend on enrollment, expenses, state funding and additional action from the Great Falls Public Schools Board of Trustees.
