Jefferson High School’s future could come into closer focus next month after school officials get a report on the results of a survey and public meetings recently held in response to actual and projected growth of the county’s population.
Jefferson County School District No. 1 hired SMA Architects, a Helena and Bozeman based firm, to administer the survey and to hold meetings with residents in Clancy on May 6, Montana City on May 7 and Boulder on May 13.
The survey’s purpose is to gather information about the school’s demographics and identify the challenges and opportunities the school faces, intelligence that could inform the district’s future expansion plans
According to U.S. Census data, Jefferson County’s population grew from about 10,000 in 2000 to about 12,000 in 2018 — an increase of 21%. Davis said that their research has shown that most of that growth occurred in the north part of the county.
The increase has fueled Jefferson High’s student population. Since the 2014-15 school year, its student body has grown 33% to 268 students this year. With more students comes a need for more resources, which is why the Jefferson High School board hired SMA.
Jason Davis, a managing partner and principal architect at SMA, told attendees at the Boulder meeting that the school board has no strategy set in stone for accommodating the school district’s growing population, which is why it decided to survey residents.
Davis spoke to about three dozen people at the meeting held in the Jefferson High School library. Much of the discussion revolved around how the school district might attract more north-county students by better communicating its assets and overcoming its perceived shortcomings.
Community members identified several factors that might cause Clancy and Montana City students to abandon Jefferson High: a perception that the school is run-down; potential cultural differences between north and south Jefferson County; and a belief that Helena high schools have more resources and opportunities for students.
As the meeting progressed, a consensus formed acknowledging that while there’s room for improvement, JHS could start to “toot its own horn” to attract more students by highlighting what opportunities and resources already exist there.
Alan Smith, Jefferson High’s technology director, said at the meeting that the availability of technology has improved in the six years he’s worked there, and that these software and other resources deserve recognition. “I can put every student here in front of a computer at one time if I have to,” he said. “Every kid has license to every Adobe Suite program for free.”
Klint Fisher, a principal architect at SMA, said at the end of the Boulder meeting that all three meetings had yielded many helpful and informative comments that will be included in the final report.
Jefferson High Superintendent Tim Norbeck said in an interview that although each meeting had its own “flavor,” what was most telling were the comments and feedback common to all three — that “really letting people know what the district is about is key,” he said.
Representatives from SMA Architects said the firm had received 242 completed surveys from district residents.
The six-question online and paper survey broadly asked:
•What are the biggest challenges facing Jefferson High School?
•What challenges and opportunities does the geography of the district pose?
•What is the future of Jefferson High?
•An assessment of the interior and exterior of existing JHS facilities.
•What factors determine the decisions of district students who don’t attend JHS? How can JHS capture more of those students?
•Does JHS need to expand its facilities to meet current growth projections?
There are various decisions the board could make after receiving the final report. It could expand the current JHS facilities, open a new school in the northern part of the county, do something else or nothing at all. Jefferson High competes for students with high schools in Helena, where students from north-county communities can choose to go.
The opening of a high school in East Helena set for 2020 could pose new competition for Jefferson High if the East Helena school chooses to have an open district.
