Lawmakers cut school funding

In an unprecedented move, the Montana House of Representatives voted against a supplemental appropriations bill Monday a move that has short-changed Havre Public Schools about $115,000.

Andy Carlson, superintendent of Havre Public Schools, said the bill not being passed will cost the elementary schools $76,786 and Havre High School $38,396. With three months left of school, this will create issues in the district.

This morning, Carlson notified HPS officials that the general fund is frozen.

“In my opinion, it’s not a matter of finding the money,” Carlson said. “ … We don’t have the money now. It’s not a matter of finding it; it’s a matter of prioritizing. The priority is payroll obligations.”

The bill’s failure is going to affect all school-level funding for the rest of the school year. Carlson said that no school has priority over the other and they will pay the people who run them before anything else.

“It means books; it means field trips,” he said. “It means the kind of things we finish out our school year with. They’re done.”

This is the first time in decades that House Bill 3 has not passed the House. Carlson said that the word he keeps hearing is “unprecedented.”

“I didn’t plan last year for a $115,000 shortfall on April 1,” he said. “ … It’s the reality of what we’re faced with. We’ve got to regroup and finish out the school year the best we can.”

In refusing to adopt House Bill 3, Republican Appropriations Committee Chair Nancy Balance, R-Hamilton, blamed Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock for overspending on other projects during the year, forcing Republicans to slam the brakes on spending.

Minority Democrats, who all voted for passing House Bill 3, said the GOP actions were not necessary.

Some Republicans predicted a compromise might be in the works.

Rep. Mike Miller, R-Helmville, in a Twitter message Tuesday night, predicted some form of House Bill 3 would pass.

The entire local delegation, Republicans Stephanie Hess of Havre, Roy Hollandsworth of Brady, Bruce Meyers of Box Elder, and Mike Lang of Malta, voted against House Bill 3.

Superintendent of Chinook Public Schools Jay Eslick said his district is going to cost $15K on the elementary side and $12K on the high school side.

“This is political maneuvering and games that are played with public dollars,” Eslick said of the Legislature failing to pass House Bill 3.

He said, in his years working with the school district, the move is not unexpected, however.

“Nothing surprises me with the Legislature any more,” Eslick said.

He said that there will be no visible difference in how the school district finishes out its year.

“It’s not an amount that’s going to force us to change anything. We’re fine, but I know a lot of school districts aren’t.”

Denise Juneau, superintendent of public instruction of Montana, announced Tuesday that statewide, schools with be short-changed $9.4 million.