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Bozeman superintendent against closing elementary school as district looks to trim budget

interior of a traditional school classroom with wooden floor and furniture. 3d render
tiero/Getty Images/iStockphoto
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iStockphoto
interior of a traditional school classroom with wooden floor and furniture. 3d render

As Bozeman Public Schools looks to trim $4.1 million from its $57 million K-12 general fund budget and avoid emergency funding cuts, the head of the district says an early proposal to close an elementary school would not be worth the cost savings.

In December the school board’s budget committee recommended closing an elementary school as part of a long list of proposed reductions to remedy a funding imbalance, which came in part from declining elementary enrollment during the pandemic and opening a new high school.

Superintendent Casey Bertram released his draft budget reduction recommendationson Monday. They largely mirror the budget committees. However, because of enrollment uncertainty related to the pandemic and other factors, in his elementary budget recommendations, he’s against closing an elementary school to save $300,000.

“To put the community through that strife of closing and then reopening and redrawing boundaries it wasn’t worth it in my opinion I think we need more time to study it,” he said.

In lieu of the closure, Bertram suggests in the short term using funds from a planned real estate sale of two small lots next to Chief Joseph Middle School. He says this will buy the district time to look at what the possibility of going from 8 elementary schools to 7 could look like.

The public can give feedback on the proposed budget reductions at a forum from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday night at Bozeman High School’s south cafeteria. Superintendent Bertram will then present his recommendations to the school board at its meeting Monday.

Olivia Weitz covers Bozeman and surrounding communities in Southwest Montana for Yellowstone Public Radio. She has reported for Northwest News Network and Boise State Public Radio and previously worked at a daily print newspaper. She is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound and the Transom Story Workshop.