SEELEY LAKE — The Seeley Lake Elementary School District avoided making cuts by passing a levy this special election.
School leaders told MTN, if the levy didn't pass, they would have had to figure out how to cut $100,000 from their budget.
"We just need to maintain what we currently have," Seeley Lake Superintendent and Principal Christina Hartmann said.
Seeley Elementary staff say they were in need of the voters help.
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"It's not affordable to live here. There's no place to rent. Now, there is no employer. The mill is shut down. And people are having less kids. So, we're down about 40 students from where we were three years ago," Seeley Lake Elementary Business Manager Heather Mincey said.
Montana's school funding model is based on enrollment. With less students, budgets suffer.
"This year, we would have had to figure out how to cut $100,000. And then next year it would have been another $150,000 on top of that hundred thousand, just doing budget projections," Mincey explained.
Seeley Lake's general fund covers teacher salaries, benefits, supplies, and maintenance for the building, which is nearly 70 years old.
"It doesn't matter if we have ten second graders or 25 second graders, we still need a second grade teacher if we want to give our kids education that they need. So, that's what our funding needs to fit," Hartmann said.
Staff say voters came through for the school, approving around $88,000 in a levy.
"We did a lot of presentations through our community council. We did one here at the school and then just talking to people, just word of mouth, discussing things. There was a letter sent to every voting household as well to give them information and then social media," Hartmann detailed.
While the levy will help this year, staff hope the next legislative session shifts the way the state pays for education.
"We need to take a next step with our legislature and talk about the school funding in general," Hartmann stated.
