Great Falls Public Schools and Great Falls Police Department officials discussed school safety and student behaviors during their annual review on Oct. 1.

That weekend, GFPS officials dealt with the stabbing of a student by a non-student after the Great Falls High homecoming football game.

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Lance Boyd, assistant superintendent, said their goal was to reduce major behaviors by 5 percent, but have reduced them by 18 percent after an uptick following COVID and associated violence in recent years.

The number of major incidents during the 2022-2023 school year was 3,645, which came down for the 2025-2026 school year to 2,498.

He said school administrative teams and GFPD reviewed data from recent years to determine causes and develop plans to address them.

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Major incidents include aggravated assaults, disorderly conduct, fighting, insubordination, attendance and school threats, Boyd said.

The numbers for most of those incidents have dropped in recent years, with the exception of school threats, which had been decreasing the last few years, but spiked to 137 for the 2025-2026 school year.

Boyd said that’s indicative of standardizing definitions and reporting across schools.

For the first time in about 15 years, Boyd said, the district now has an accurate count of school threats since it includes threat assessments on students who are making threats at school or out of school.

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Threats outside of school are also disruptive to the learning environment, he said, since depending on the situation, the involved students may have to follow alternate learning plans for a certain amount of time.

Jackie Mainwaring, assistant superintendent, said they didn’t previously have an accurate way to track school threats, so the 2025-2026 school year data will be a baseline.

The category includes students making threats against each other, teachers, at school and outside of school.

She said during teacher training that morning, they’d discussed training and how different people can view the same event differently, so it’s important to get multiple perspectives while investigating a threat or incident.

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Boyd said the changes in major incidents can be attributed to it being the fourth year of the character strong program; a recalibration on how incidents are reported and communicated within GFPS and to families; a review of threat assessment forms and the process; and intentional planning around how student behaviors impact instruction and the school climate and culture.

Mainwaring said she had a recent conversation with a principal who had looked through her data and noticed things were happening on the playground, so she started spending more time there, which lowered incidents.

Boyd said they’ve asked principals to look at common threads in their buildings and pick one to focus on, which has led to improved behavior.

He said school leaders have realized behavior is a form of communication and for the last few years have worked on teaching replacement behaviors and behavior plans to better address student needs.

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A county safety team, comprised of GFPS, GFPD, the Cascade County Attorney’s Office, juvenile probation, and others, meets at least quarterly and focuses on staffing students with significant behavior issues in schools and the community to support problem-solving and community-based services. The team also tracks students outside of GFPS, but those are infrequent.

Staffing by year for the team:

• 2025-26: 9 students
• 2024-25: 28 students
• 2023-24: 29 students
• 2022-23: 16 students

Boyd said that through the county safety team, they’ve targeted a certain population of students who are mostly not in school but have caused disruption through fear and threats and things going outside of school with gang affiliations.

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They’ve taken it down a few notches from the last two years, Boyd said, from the height of the juvenile gang problem a few years ago with a high number of lockdowns at Great Falls High School.

Boyd said GFPS officials have been working more closely with law enforcement and other partner agencies.

The district uses an administrative hearing process to address significant school policy violations, such as bringing a gun to school.

In those instances, an internal team is established, comprised of administrators not involved in the incident, to hear from the school, families and the student and review evidence to develop a plan for the involved student. Consequences vary and, in some cases, result in expulsion, but often it’s an opportunity for a second chance since students make mistakes, he said.

Through that process, they’ve seen substantial changes in student behavior in many cases.

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Boyd said that two cohorts of students, 16 total, have gone through the Restart program, with 14 on a path to graduation or returning to school and two who have graduated.

The district also works to address safety concerns through the building safety initiative, which involves collaboration with law enforcement and buildings/grounds staff.

That includes safety drills and identifying needs and priorities for items like door locks, fire alarms, intercom and camera systems and single points of entry.

Boyd and Brent Cutler, facilities director, said they can only do so many building safety projects at a time depending on costs.

Locks cost about $150 each, so they’re looking at a large price tag per school, they said.

This fall, the district is replacing door locks at Valley View, Sacajawea and Lewis and Clark elementaries.

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Kim Skornogoski, school board member, asked staff to bring estimates to the board budget committee to consider.

During the Oct. 21 board budget committee meeting, staff presented a list of potential upcoming projects, including ADA door handles and locks for an estimated $175,000 and fire alarm replacements for West and Sunnyside elementaries for an estimated $450,000.

The annual GFPS safe schools discussion includes a report from the Great Falls Police Department on the school resource program.

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This year, Det. Sgt. Kaleb Larson is overseeing the SROs.

He reviewed the overall five-year comparison for their responses to or at schools:

• 2025-2026: 704
• 2024-2025: 830
• 2023-2024: 803
• 2022-2023: 647
• 2021-2022: 432

Larson said GFPD has taken a tough stance on the gangs and associated violence.

There were multiple assaults at East Middle two years ago, he said, so last year, SROs told students and families that if they committed assault, they’d have to go to the Juvenile Detention Center, which helped most understand the severity of the situation.

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A chart of responses to elementary schools showed:

• 2025-2026: 252
• 2024-2025: 98
• 2023-2024: 267
• 2022-2023: 235
• 2021-2022: 151

The numbers include any response to schools, such as walk-throughs and visits, as well as incidents, he said.

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Skornogoski asked if those numbers could be further broken down for next year’s report so they’d be able to see if there were spikes in incidents, rather than SRO visits.

SROs issued 271 criminal citations to students last year, down from the previous year, but “it was a violent year,” Larson said, with gang violence trickling into schools.

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The breakdown for the last few years of criminal citations is below:

• 2025-2026: 271
• 2024-2025: 303
• 2023-2024: 274
• 2022-2023: 280

At Great Falls High:

• 2025-2026: 110
• 2024-2025: 132
• 2023-2024: 103

At C.M. Russell High:

• 2025-2026: 49
• 2024-2025: 62
• 2023-2024: 64

At Paris Gibson Education Center:

• 2025-2026: 2
• 2024-2025: 3
• 2023-2024: 3

At East Middle: 

• 2025-2026: 67
• 2024-2025: 80
• 2023-2024: 77

At North Middle:

• 2025-2026: 22
• 2024-2025: 7
• 2023-2024: 3

At elementary schools:

• 2025-2026: 21
• 2024-2025: 19
• 2023-2024: 24

Of those 271 total citations district-wide, 26 cases ran through the diversion program in lieu of citations and 51 cases had GFPS consequences rather than formal citations.

Gordon Johnson, school board chair, asked how parents are involved in the process and whether they’re cooperative.

Larson said parents are involved immediately, and the diversion programs require consent of parents, the student and juvenile probation. He said most parents are cooperative and if not, the student is issued a formal citation and goes through the juvenile justice system.

Generally, he said, it’s good kids making a poor choice and their parents hold them accountable.

Gang violence continues to be a factor for local law enforcement and schools.

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Senior Police Officer Chris Brown, a GFPD officer, has taken the lead on tracking gang activity, tagging and member affiliations and he alerts SROs to affiliated students and potential issues for schools.

Brown said they’ve improved their processes to monitor gang activity and coordinate with the SROs to flag any students involved in gang activity or potential spillover.

Tagging has been reduced across the city, Larson said, but kids are posting videos and photos online of themselves with guns, making gun poses or potential threats.

Other students see those posts and alert SROs, who investigate.

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Stolen guns continue to be a significant concern for law enforcement as juvenile gangs are stealing them from unlocked cars all over town.

Officers continue to ask residents not to keep weapons in their vehicles and to lock their vehicles.

But, through increased community awareness, Brown, told The Electric that firearm thefts are down from last year.

There were more than 80 last year and as of Oct. 2, there’d been 44 for the year so far.

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There are several known gangs in town and all have some level of juvenile involvement, Larson said.

Last year, a boy claiming gang membership shot another teenager near the McDonald’s and Phoenix Apartments on 10th Avenue South.

The boy was 13 at the time and was recently, at the age of 14, sentenced to Pine Hills, the state’s juvenile corrections facility.

Since at least 2023, Great Falls Police officers have mentioned in public meetings some school safety concerns tied to off-campus gang activities.

Those conversations have largely been at GFPD board work sessions on school safety with the school resource officers. The Electric is often the only member of the public or media in the room.

Those incidents have included:

• September 2022 stabbing in the area of Chowen Springs Park after a fight involving juveniles
• February 2023 shooting of a teen walking to school near Chowen Springs Park
• March 2023 fatal shooting
• May 2023 fatal stabbing
• March 2024 stabbing
• July 2024 assault
• July 2025 weapon incident
• November 2025 shooting
• March 2026 shooting

Incidents related to gang activity across the community have often prompted schools to be placed into shelter-in-place status, typically not because the students involved are threatening the school, but as a precautionary measure.

One of the juvenile boys involved in the November gang shooting near McDonald’s last fall was sentenced in November to Pine Hills until he was 18. He was 16 at the time.

He has since been released, returned to Great Falls and was charged in September with car theft.

That teen punched the shooting victim in the head in McDonald’s on Nov. 3, which led to the larger altercation and eventual shooting, according to court documents, and was in court last year for a revocation hearing since he’d committed new offenses while on juvenile probation. He’d been sentenced in June in an earlier case and was charged again less than a month later, the prosecutor said.

The teen was involved in gang and gun activity with “escalating behaviors,” the prosecutor said during last fall’s hearing, and at that point, they believed a commitment to Pine Hills was the best way to keep the community safe.

During the hearing, District Court Judge Elizabeth Best said that youth court is “intended to get kids back on their feet and not brand you as a criminal for the rest of your life. I’m seeing shame on your part. You’ve got a great chance to turn things around. I believe in you.”

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The sentenced 16-year-old had a firearm in March 2025 that his 9-year-old brother got ahold of and pointed at other juveniles during an altercation over a stolen bicycle. The pistol had been stolen from a parked vehicle earlier that month, according to charging documents.

The 16-year-old, plus Geronimo Standinghorn and the 12-year-old charged in the Nov. 3 shooting and another, posted photos on social media of themselves posing with a stolen weapon earlier in the year.

They are also shown in a photo with a stolen weapon in the parking area near Albaro Picotte’s residence. Picotte used the weapon to threaten and assault his ex-girlfriend in July 2025 and was charged with multiple crimes.

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While Picotte was in jail, he called the sentenced 16-year-old and the 12-year-old charged in the Nov. 3 shooting, recruiting them to vandalize his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle in July 2025.

The gang activity is reaching younger children in town, including the 12-year-old and Standinghorn who were involved in the Nov. 3 shooting. Both were sentenced to Pine Hills.

Larson said last year, an elementary student pulled a gun on an adult riding a bike, robbing him.

The majority of the gang activity is happening outside of school, Boyd said, but he and Larson said it’s spilling over into schools and they’re monitoring it closely.

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Brown, the GFPD officer tracking local gang activity, provided training for teachers and administrators on things to look for. He provided an Oct. 22 safety presentation at a downtown church on:

• when to call 911
• situational awareness at home and in public
• how to keep a residence safe
• how to handle a dangerous situation
• personal security
• crime prevention
• graffiti

Capt. Brian Black of GFPD said officers visit neighborhood councils to discuss the issues, particularly about guns being stolen out of vehicles.

Boyd said the schools provide consistent messaging when there’s increased activity and that most students recognize tagging and know the numbers/signs for local gangs.

Johnson, school board chair, said “citizens should be up in arms this is happening.”

Brown, the GFPD officer tracking gang activity, told The Electric that it comes in waves but they’re typically dealing with the same juveniles repeatedly.

When the more violent juvenile offenders are sentenced, different juveniles come in and fill the gap, Brown said, but not to the extent if was at the end of 2025. The new players include juveniles and young adults.

Gang graffiti is down, he said, but they’re seeing continued gang activity on social media.

It’s been a little quieter lately, but several officials have said they’re concerned about some of the more prominent juvenile offenders being released from Pine Hills and the potential for increased violence.