Discrepancy Between State/district Classification Of School Type May Endanger Funding 227 Academy’s Funding For Middle Grades for East Helena
 | Author:
Linda Kent, MT43 News Staff Reporter
MT43 News Correspondent |
Discrepancy May Endanger Funding for East Helena School
Linda Kent
MT43 News Staff Reporter
Discrepancy Between State/District Classification of School Type May Endanger Funding 227 Academy’s Funding for Middle Grades in East Helena
Superintendent Dan Rispens informed East Helena Public School’s Board of Trustees, Dec. 9, that he had been notified by Montana’s Office of Public Instruction (OPI) that the district’s public charter school could be forced to return around $118,000 in state money.
At issue, is the state’s determination that 227 Academy’s 10 sixth-grade students do not meet the legal definition of “middle school” students, even though they are served by the middle school program along with 11 seventh and eighth-graders. OPI and state law define sixth-grade students as being elementary students. To remain eligible to retain funding for the middle school, total enrollment in grades seven and eight would need to reach nearly 30 students by February 3, 2025. This despite the fact that the majority of Montana’s publicly enrolled sixth through eighth graders attend a middle school.
“I think OPI is reading the law correctly,” Board Chairman Scott Walter said, “but I think it’s a misapplication.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Rispens said bluntly. The district must meet an average of 20 students enrolled as of the fall enrollment count, which occurred on Nov. 8 and the spring count in February to retain the money.
Rispens told the board that the issue was not explained when the state public charter program and funding model were rolled out.
“We started 227 Academy to be a leader in the state,” Rispens said. He informed the board that while staffing for the East Helena program had been conservative, returning the funds to OPI would impact the district’s general fund budget.
