The STARS Act was signed into law in May 2025 aimed at boosting Montana’s K-12 education system by incentivizing districts to increase base salaries for starting teachers. The bill increased state funding for districts that increased base salaries for starting teachers to 62 percent of the average teacher pay by 2026 and to 70 percent by 2030. GFPS officials opted
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The Great Falls Public Schools board voted May 11 to establish student activity accounts for girls’ flag football at both Great Falls and C.M. Russell high schools. All new extracurricular fund accounts much be approved by the board, per board policy. The accounts will hold grant funds from the Arthur Blank Family Foundation and other donations, according to GFPS officials,
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The North Middle School Archery team recently competed at the national tournament after winning the Montana state title. During the March 23 meeting, the Great Falls Public Schools board recognized the team for their state tournament wins. To qualify for national, NMS’ archery team won both the 3D Animals and Bullseye team competitions at the state tournament in Helena hosted
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The Great Falls Public Schools board was scheduled to vote during their April 27 meeting on an agreement between GFPS, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and the Great Falls Police Department. The agreement is for the pilot reserve deputy school resource officer program proposed by Sheriff Jesse Slaughter. During the meeting, the item was pulled from the agenda at the
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Great Falls Public Schools is soliciting bids for its natural gas supply. The district has historically contracted directly with a natural gas company using long-term contracts to keep costs low. The current contract expires June 30 and since NorthWestern Energy acquired EnergyWest, GFPS doesn’t have the option to renew, Luke Diekhans, GFPS’ business operations manager, told the school board during
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The Great Falls Public Schools board unanimously approved a $154,300 contract to AT Klemens during their April 27 meeting to replace the fire alarm system at Valley View Elementary School. Luke Diekhans, GFPS’ business operations manager, said the district has been working in recent years to upgrade emergency alarm systems across the district. The fire alarm system at Valley View
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The Great Falls Public Schools board unanimously approved a new contract with Eide Bailly for audit services during their April 13 meeting. The district is legally required to conduct professional audits annually. After completing the 2025 audit, GFPS’ three year contract with Eide Bailly was completed and district officials discussed a new contract with the firm. Eide Bailly provided a
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The Great Falls Public Schools board voted unanimously during a special March 31 meeting to award a $399,063 contract to Empire Roofing for an emergency repair of the Lincoln Elementary School roof, about half of which was blown off during a March 8 windstorm. Because of the emergent need to repair the school roof, the district didn’t have to follow
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The Great Falls Public Schools board voted unanimously during their March 23 meeting to cancel this year’s election and declare the three filed candidates winners by acclamation. State law allows school board trustees to declare election by acclamation if the number of candidates is equal to or less than the number of open positions. Since the school board voted in
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The Great Falls Public Schools board voted unanimously during their March 23 meeting to purchase new math textbooks and resources. The district selected Savvas enVision for middle and high school. The new math materials focus on “an integrated approach to mathematics learning,” according to GFPS staff, following the same methodology adopted in the elementary grades. “An integrated design helps focus
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