Great Falls Public Schools officials are discussing whether to add high school baseball to its athletics program.

In 2022, the board voted to sanction a GFPS high school baseball program and since then, Mike Henneberg, the district athletic director has analyzed costs, resources and conducted an interest survey and had conversations with the local baseball community.

During the board’s June 24 meeting, Henneberg gave the board a report on his analysis.

The board did not take action on baseball but talked about further discussing it, likely in the budget committee meetings that will start in July.

GFPS discussing whether to add high school baseball, no vote scheduled yet

Belgrade and Butte have fielded teams this year.

Missoula and Billings school districts recently voted to add programs.

Missoula’s school board voted that the program had to be funded through fundraising the first season and be budget neutral the following year, meaning additional district funds won’t be added to the athletic department for baseball, according to Henneberg.

The Billings school district voted that the program must be self-funded for the first three seasons with an estimated first year startup costs of $244,000 with an annual expense of $131,000, according to 406 MT Sports.

Henneberg said those districts need to commit by Sept. 1 if they’re going to field teams for the spring 2025 season.

GFPS board approves addition of high school baseball program [2022]

Henneberg said the district established a committee, including himself, incoming superintendent Heather Hoyer and and the high school principals to consider the factors of adding baseball.

He said there are four major factors to consider:

• betterment of GFPS students and the sport of baseball in Great Falls
• interest and support
• financially viable and sustainable
• feasibility

Henneberg said that adding high school baseball could potentially allow more student athletes to play the sport since current local options can be cost prohibitive and it may allow some students to participate in a shorter season giving them options for work or training for other sports during the summer.

Adding high school baseball also has the potential to help the Legion program grow since the season would be shorter and might be more attractive to those who participated in the high school season, Henneberg said.

There is a concern for the health of athletes, particularly pitchers, Henneberg said, since current high school rules on the pitch count are more liberal than the Legion program allows. He said that baseball programs at all levels have raised concerns about arm health.

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He said there’s also concern about the quality of play and schedule since there’s currently one program that would be split into two and a question of whether the teams and schedule would remain as competitive.

Henneberg said Butte and Belgrade have struggled to get 14 games played for the last two seasons and eventually, high school teams will have to play a similar number of games as to what’s allowed in softball, which is 22.

Henneberg said that an athlete and parent survey distributed in 2023 indicated adequate interest and community members expressed interest through conversations and emails.

He said that the Great Falls Voyagers and little leagues expressed interest in partnering with GFPS and the Legion program said they’d also support a high school program.

Henneberg said the start up cost estimate would be $40,000 to $50,000 but that may be higher by 2025.

He said the estimated annual cost is $40,000 to $50,000 per high school, totallying an additional $90,000 to $100,000 in the athletic budget.

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Missoula and Billings school boards voted to participate, but required private funding to start their programs.

Currently, athletics makes up 2.15 percent of the GFPS general fund budget.

Brian Patrick, GFPS’ business operations manager, said that equates to $1,675,090, the majority of which is coaching salaries and travel.

Coming into the next budget, Patrick said the district is looking at a $2.66 million shortfall as bond funds and COVID relief dollars run out.

He said that from 2008 to 2021, the district has made $10.4 million in cuts.

About 86 percent of the budget is salary related and Patrick said the district has offered pay increases to teachers and staff to retain and recruit employees.

Looking at adding another sport and the associated expense, “my biggest concern as the business manager of the district is the last two years and the difference between revenues and expenses.”

Other AA districts recently went out for levies and bonds and “they didn’t fare very well,” he said. GFPS was the only AA district that did not run a levy in 2024.

Some other districts have started making significant cuts due to budget shortfalls and Patrick said that unless something changes at the state level with the school funding formula, GFPS will have to also make changes such as reductions to existing programs or personnel and athletics will likely have to make future reductions in that case.

Henneberg said the AA athletic directors and principals have already evaluated and made reductions in expenses for certain activities for the 2024-2025 school year.

GFPS considering adding baseball as sanctioned high school sport [2022]

Field and umpire availability, transportation, event personnel, scheduling and equity issues are also concerns, Henneberg said.

Superintendent Tom Moore said that lawyers for the other AA districts have discussed the potential for legal challenges if baseball as a singular sport is funding privately for more than the initial three years.

He said an option could be to have the athletics program as a whole funded in part by private dollars, but individual sports receiving private funding could create legal equity issues.

Marlee Sunchild, school board member, asked if there are equity issues in terms of facilities if baseball boys get to play at Centene Stadium and the softball girls continue playing at the city’s Multi Sports complex “because they are vastly different facilities.”

Henneberg and Moore said that was also an issue to consider.

Moore said the AA superintendents met on June 24 and Missoula was more concerned about baseball’s sustainability and viability than Billings, since their program was only authorized for a year at this point.

Moore said Missoula made some dramatic cuts this year and while Billings didn’t seem as concerned, they said they hadn’t seen any of the private sector dollars yet for baseball.

Greg Schoby, president of Riverside Little League, said “obviously, yeah we want it,” of high school baseball.

He said his little league program had record enrollment this year and that it’s a growing sport.

Schoby said local business support the existing programs, so “funding I don’t think is going to be an issue.”

Zac Griffin, of the Realtors Association, said he graduated high school here in 1996 and started coaching youth sports in 1998. He moved back to Great Falls in 2012.

“I think the Great Falls community needs baseball. This community would rally around it,” he said.

Griffin said the softball complex needs work but that the district shouldn’t hold baseball back because of it.

He asked the board to “be bold about it.”

Griffin said he understands the tough financials for the district, but thinks the loca business community will support high school baseball.

Kali Tuckerman said her son wants to play Major League Baseball and she wants to give him every opportunity, but “it’s not just about my kid. It’s not just about the baseball players that are here tonight to show their support.”

She said many local kids can’t afford to play on the travel teams and she wants more kids to have the opportunity to play baseball.

Ben Snipes, a local lawyer, said his firm gets requests for donations from local sports organizations for “not trifling amounts” and his firm has contributed.

He said the district should look at the legal issues and that they can probably get the local funding support.

Aaron Jensen, social studies teacher and wrestling coach at C.M. Russell High, said that athletics helps students do better academically, improves attendance and learn more skills.

He said he sees adding another activity at GFPS as an extension of the classroom and that existing sports also have to fundraise to cover their costs.

“I think it is feasible and I think it’s just an exciting thing we can add to just continue to reach more kids,” Jensen said.

Sports are a positive activity for students “that in turn can be life changing,” he said.

Moore said district administration has been looking at adding baseball but with the current budget projections, “we’re concerned that we’re going to be returning to an era of making cuts across the board.”

He said the district wants to provide opportunities for students, but “we need to do it right.”

The GFPS cabinet’s recommendation to the board, Moore said, is to put high school baseball in the mix for the budget committee to start looking at when they begin meeting in July to prepare for the 2025-2026 fiscal year budget, which will begin July 1, 2025.

He said they also recommend working with Henneberg, Patrick and the local community to see if those initial startup dollars can be raised and if the general fund can eventually handle the additional $100,000 annually.

“I think it can be done too, but I think we need to have the mechanism in place and not just jump on the emotion of getting it going right this minute,” Moore told the board.

He said the last thing they want to do, is start a baseball program and have to pull it back in a few years for lack of funding.

Gordon Johnson, board chair, thanked the public for attending and also those who sent emails on baseball.

“We sense the passion of each person in this room on this topic,” he said.

Mark Finnicum, school board member, said he thinks it will be incumbent on the community to come to the board with a proposal for private funding for the startup years, similar to Missoula or Bozeman.

Kim Skornogoski, school board member, said she’d like to see baseball just as she’d like to see more art teachers and more paraeducators and keep the math coaches.

She said she wants to add more things for students, but that they have to consider that GFPS may soon face the same budget situation as helena and have to cut teachers and staff.

“I’m hopeful we can come up with plan, but we certainly have to think past three years,” she said.

Sunchild said, “we cannot make decisions based on emotion” and that she loves baseball, but will also fight to ensure girls have equity in high school sports.