Legislative budget cuts impacting Havre schools busing

Families sending children to school on Havre Public Schools’ buses today are feeling first-hand one of the impacts of cuts made in the state budget last summer and in the special legislative session last fall — student busing.

Havre Public Schools Superintendent Andy Carlson said busing for this school year had to change substantially after major cuts, including losing $50,000 in district transportation block grants.

Carlson said that with an $80,000 shortfall for transportation, the district had to make multiple changes, including in the school busing routes.

“That’s reality,” he said. “You can’t have that large a cut and not have it impact routes.”

The impact for students includes buses running earlier and with longer routes, as well as making fewer stops.

The Montana Legislature last year based its budget on higher revenue estimates than Gov. Steve Bullock used in drafting his proposed budget. The budget the Legislature passed included mandated cuts in spending if revenue projections dropped below a trigger level.

When projections of revenue dropped early last summer, the cuts went into effect.

The governor then called a special session of the Legislature last fall to deal with a projected $227 million budget deficit caused by continued declines in projected revenue and high expenses including the the worst fire season in Montana in more than a century.

Since then, revenue has come in higher than predicted, allowing some money to be restored, primarily in Montana Department of Health and Human Services.

Carlson said the district transportation department has been working diligently to deal with the cuts.

In a message posted Tuesday on the district website about the transportation cuts, Carlson wrote that the district transportation block grants were permanently removed beginning Fiscal Year 2019.

He said Tuesday the impact is a double-edged sword — the district usually sees small increases in transportation funding that helps with increased expenses, but this year is facing cuts instead.

“This shouldn’t be put at the feet of the transportation department,” Carlson added, saying the district worked on how to best handle the cuts as soon as they were made and it was brought up at multiple school board meetings.

Other areas in the department saw cuts as well as the actual bus routes, he said.

“The impact isn’t felt until you see it in action,” he said.