The Great Falls Public Schools board voted during their April 14 meeting to approve the district’s continued participation in the technology multidistrict agreement with Belt and Vaughn public schools.

In 2012, GFPS entered into an agreement with the public schools in Cascade, Centerville, Belt, Sun River and Vaughn for technology.

State law allows for boards of trustees of any two or more school districts to enter into a multidistrict agreement to perform any services, activities, and undertakings of the participating districts and to provide for the joint funding, operation, and maintenance of all participating districts.

The intent is to provide for more efficiency in governmental operations because multidistrict agreements encourage collaboration and collective purchasing between districts, according to GFPS.

Any money transferred into the agreement fund can only be used by the district that owns those funds, but it’s a way for smaller districts to get the better purchasing rates that GFPS has and could have their orders, for Chromebooks as an example, added to a GFPS order to get a better rate, according to Brian Patrick, GFPS’ business operations manager.

The maximum term of a multidistrict agreement is three years and the existing agreement between Belt, Great Falls and Vaughn is set to expire on June 30.

Cascade, Centerville and Sun River previously opted out of participating in the agreement.

The agreement includes a process for a district to leave the multidistrict cooperative and clarifications on the funds from which districts may choose to make transfers. All schools that are party to the agreement have to approve the agreement, according to GFPS.

A memorandum of understanding process will continue to be used to outline the activities and equipment/software/supply purchases between the schools.

Under the agreement, GFPS doesn’t have to add additional funding to its initial investment and any transfers to the fund will be reviewed by the board for approval.