Greetings,
School will begin in only a few weeks and we are excited to have our wonderful teachers and students all back together! Monday evening’s board meeting included the approval of the budget for the 2023/2024 school year. We are grateful for a supportive community and continue to work to be good stewards of the public funding that our district receives. If you are curious about how school finance works, you can find more information via the Montana Office of Public instruction.
During the discussion, trustees noted concerns regarding the future needs of the district specifically related to funding for teacher salaries. We have had several teachers and candidates for open positions take jobs elsewhere where they would be able to make several thousand dollars more a year. With the high cost of living in the Flathead, and a small pool of new teachers to the area, it is a challenging hurdle for all valley schools. Superintendent Price shared that MSU graduated less than 100 teachers in 2023. Meanwhile there are hundreds of job vacancies in education listed on the OPI website.
Currently, Somers District 29 staff salaries account for 85% of the available funding in the general fund. We are grateful for our incredible staff. We want to be a district that retains wonderful teachers and attracts new ones. We must find ways to be more competitive with compensation and/or other innovative ideas. The board has asked administrators to begin proactively planning for how we can become a district that is better able to meet the staffing needs of the schools. Currently, the district has several open positions: librarian, school counselor, special education teachers, substitute teachers, educational aides, and an assistant cook. If you know anyone interested in these positions please have them contact: joe.price@somersdist29.org.
We welcome educational aides, Mrs. Fox, Ms. Yarn, Ms. Hellyer, and assistant custodian Mr. Bowen to the team! We say farewell and best wishes to Ms. Meuchel, Ms. Parmelee, and Ms. Alford on your next endeavors. A special thank you goes to Ms. Crompton for her many years of service as an aide.
A request for an out of district student to enroll at SMS was approved. Finally, Trustees also approved a lease for a daycare and early education private provider to utilize the spare space in the SMS annex. Because this is a private provider, the district is unable to assist with childcare costs or enrollment questions. However, if you are interested in utilizing the service, inquiries can be made directly with Growing Roots. Montana also provides child care scholarships through the Best Beginnings program. In our region, The Nurturing Center is also a valuable resource for families.
The next regular board meeting will be September, 18th, 6 PM at Lakeside Elementary.
Until then, mark your calendars for these important dates:
Thursday, August 24, 6:00 P.M. Fall Sports Parent Night at SMS
Wednesday, August 30th 3:00-5:00 P.M. Back to School Night at SMS
Thursday, August 31 4:30-6:30 P.M. Meet the Teacher/Open House at LES
Tuesday, September 5 First Day of School
Have a wonderful end of summer. We will see you in September!
-Jesica Swanson
jesica.swanson@somersdist29.org
Board Chairperson