School Superintendent Explains 2025-2026 Budget
Author: mt43news staff reporter
MT43 News Staff Reporter
Superintendent Brad Racht went through the school budget with a fine-tooth comb at the August 5 District School Board meeting.
Racht emphasized the STARS ACT, passed under HB252 by the legislature, allocated a two-year budget of $100million for schools across the state to increase starting salaries for first-time teachers. Beginning in 2028, the program awards will increase starting teacher salaries by $7,300. “That will bring starting salaries up to $41,615.00, so it will help recruitment capabilities since it allows for higher new teacher salaries,” he said.
The second part of the program is to encourage certified teachers already on staff to qualify for an excellent level of teaching. Qualifying for the higher level of teaching puts Townsend School District in line for a quality educator award.
A third component of the program is awarding payment to the school for encouraging students to enroll in dual credit and Advanced Placement courses. “Future-ready” college credits earned will be in the form of an increase in ANB (average number belonging), which is the biggest component of school funding, Racht explained, with overall incentives to encourage students to work for “career readiness". This boils down to students not only going to college but also entering apprenticeships in the trades.
Townsend’s School District has a logistics problem: It is located in the middle of a very long county with heavy and growing populations on both ends. People living in the Winston area and in South Broadwater work, shop and use childcare in the cities they are close to, like Three Forks and Bozeman, East Helena and Helena. They want their children in those schools for convenience. As a result, Townsend School District is obligated to pay tuition plus special education and individual education plans costs, if needed, to those schools.
In a review of the district’s 2025-2026 school budget, Racht explained it this way: “We get hammered with tuition costs because of our location in the county. We pay over $50,000 a year in tuition to other school districts for children whose parents live in Broadwater County and enroll them in other districts. It does not balance out with kids from out of the county coming here. Last year, we had only two families from out of the district send their kids to school here. This year, we have only a handful.”
