More Montana teachers are out of a job as schools statewide struggle to balance their budgets. Missoula County Public Schools trustees voted on May 30th to terminate the contracts of 47 educators.
Missoula County Public Schools human resources director Trevor Laboski told trustees the district planned a total reduction of 55 full-time employees for the next school year. That number includes some positions from retiring staff left unfilled, and expiring one-year contracts.
“I think the best way to talk about the reductions we’ve made and the changes in staffing is, it’s very nuanced,” Laboski said. “On the non-tenured, non-renewals, there’s 33 elementary non-renewals of non-tenureds, and 14 in high school.”
School trustees in Helena recently cut 52 non-tenured teaching positions after voters rejected five separate property tax levies.
Missoula voters recently approved three of four funding requests from the district. One of those helped pay for behavioral interventionists whose positions had been funded with federal pandemic relief dollars.
Those funds are expiring for schools nationwide this year, leaving many with major budget holes. Missoula County Public Schools earlier this year announced a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall due to the end of federal aid and declining enrollment.
