Clarification: Montana City School taxes

Our Mar. 26 story, “School transfer bill driving levy increases,” reported on the financial impact of House Bill 203, a 2023 law that requires schools to pay a portion of the tuition costs when parents in their district enroll their children into neighboring school districts. The story focused on Jefferson High School, whose taxpayers will face a significant increase in taxes because of the legislation. For JHS, which sees more students from its district attend Helena schools in Helena than vice versa, the new law has created an estimated  $230,000 deficit to be funded by taxpayers.

The story also reported on tuition levy increases at other county schools. We noted that Montana City School had publicly reported an anticipated tuition fund levy increase of $40,604 for the 2025-2026 school year. This is accurate — but it’s also incomplete.

As Montana City Superintendent Tony Kloker and Clerk Diane Smith explained, the school is required to report the loss of tuition funds reflecting students in its district who will attend other schools. But the tuition fund accounting does not reflect revenue from students likely to attend Montana City School from neighboring districts.