As a former student of Montana City School — I graduated from eighth grade in 2016 — I can attest to the fact that I received a good education. However, I believe that now, more than ever, given the current economic uncertainty, it is important to reconsider the necessity of the levy we are being asked to vote on. The school, like many businesses and municipalities, needs to take this opportunity to look inward and ask what they can do to reduce the burden on others.
Since this will be my first opportunity to vote in an election, I felt it necessary to read the information about the mill levy from the school and to do some homework. What did I learn? That the Montana City School Superintendent and Board are using an increase in student enrollment as one of three top justifications for asking voters to pass a new levy. As an information sheet states: “The increase in student enrollment, the need for additional staffing and increasing operational costs that exceed the increase provided by the state.”
According to information provided by District Clerk Diane Smith, current student enrollment at Montana City School is 503. Of those 503 students, 55 (11% of the student body) are classified as discretionary. These discretionary students are out-of-district students and the school does not receive property tax dollars or out-of-district tuition. Without these 55 discretionary students, the school’s enrollment would be at 448 students, which is 2015 enrollment numbers.
