Federal education decision makes small cut to Havre schools

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester D-Mont., announced last Wednesday he will be introducing a new legislation to preserve funding for 2020 Montana rural schools, reversing what he called "a reckless decision" by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos to change eligibility for rural schools receiving funding through the Rural Low-Income Schools program.

A release from Tester's office said the change will cause an estimated 65 percent decrease in eligibility in Montana, one of the highest rates in the nation, and will cause as many as 220 Montana schools to lose more than $400,000 in Rural Low-Income Schools  funds.

"Tester's legislation would reverse the Department's change and reinstate Rural Low-Income Schools availability based on alternative measures like free and reduced school lunch program eligibility," Tester spokesperson Roy Lowenstein said. "Rural Low-Income Schools funding is critical to making sure that school districts of all sizes are eligible and competitive for federal grant funding to support programs like after school activities, student supports, and professional development for educators."

Havre Public Schools' elementary schools, Highland Park Early Primary School, Lincoln-McKinley Primary School and Sunnyside Intermediate School, are the only schools in this region impacted by the decision, losing $24,593.

Havre Public Schools Superintendent Andy Carlson said Havre Public Schools has not received funding from the Rural Low-Income Schools since 2016-2017.

"The story for us is that we used them to purchase technology-based assessment programs, '' he said. "We discontinued use of two of those programs and shifted a third to another funding source. These things go unnoticed by the general public, but I can tell you it does not go unnoticed by our staff.  It creates understandable frustration."

He said it is a ripple effect and this year the schools will look to further streamline into their supplemental resources. 

It is frustrating to the classroom teacher that has a comfort level and recognizes results with a certain program, he added.

"We do less with less," Carlson said. 

Havre Public Schools would not be able to function without federal program dollars, he said.  

"We are working so hard to protect what we have in this school district," Carlson said. "I know that we are creeping ever more closely to having to take a hard look at programs that we value greatly. Every $30,000 less brings us closer to the reality of losing programming we have in Havre Public Schools."

Tester's press release said the senator told DeVos in a letter that Montana rural schools already struggle to recruit and retain quality educators.

"The absolute last thing that the Department of Education should be doing is taking resources and opportunities away from these schools," he wrote to DeVos. 'I ask that you immediately rectify this situation and allow school districts to submit the data they have been submitting for nearly 20 years. Montana students and students across rural America deserve more than an arbitrary bureaucratic decision in Washington."