Montana’s Board of Public Education Friday approved five applications from public school districts seeking to establish new public charter schools, paving the way for more tailored instructional efforts in communities around the state.
This week’s vote brings the total number of board-approved public charter schools statewide to 24, a stark illustration of the option’s popularity in the wake of the 2023 Legislature. During that session, lawmakers passed a bipartisan-supported proposal allowing existing school districts to pursue creating their own charter schools and directing additional state funding to such initiatives. The board received two dozen charter applications in fall 2023, more than four times the number legislators had anticipated, and greenlit 19 of them for opening in subsequent school years.
Board members took their first close look at the latest batch of 12 applications last month and continued their examination this week ahead of a final vote Friday. In a resolution passed unanimously, the board approved the following charter applications for opening in fall 2025: Big Horn Academy, an alternative school situated in Hardin for students at risk of not graduating; Butte Pathway Academy, which aims to emphasize trades-based education and career exploration; Libby Central Charter School, another alternative school proposal for students who are struggling academically; Ronan Charter Academy, which focuses on work-based learning and career pathways; and the Central Montana Career and Technical Education Academy, a proposed regional career and technical education hub located in Lewistown.
The work session preceding those approvals included a review of public feedback submitted on several of the prospective charters, a bulk of which came in response to the proposed Livingston-based Yellowstone Experience School (YES) — the sole application submitted without support or approval from the local school board. The proposal, which would have established Montana’s first standalone charter school district, attracted a mix of comments either supporting the creation of educational alternatives in Livingston or opposing the reallocation of public resources in a community whose existing public schools are already struggling with financial and hiring challenges.
Emily Post, governing board chair of the proposed YES charter, attempted to assure the Board of Public Education Thursday of her group’s commitment to successfully launching the school. However, board members echoed much of the concern expressed in public comment regarding the proposal’s lack of local school board support and its ability to meet the financial and regulatory demands of the state’s education laws.
“I really appreciated the innovative approach and engaging education strategy,” board member Lisa Schmidt told her colleagues Thursday. “I was very concerned that the applicants weren’t working with the school board, and after the interviews and presentation they gave us, I felt like they need to educate themselves on school finance. I would love to see this application come back next year with stronger finance and some partnership with the local school board.”
Ultimately, the board rejected the YES application alongside four other charter applications from school districts in Laurel, Florence-Carlton, Lockwood and St. Ignatius. Also on the list of denied applications was another repeat request, this one from the Liberty school district, which sought for a second time to establish a linked network of school sites on Hutterite colonies in north-central Montana.
Once again, the Board of Public Education wrestled with a litany of legal questions about dispersed educational sites and the bounds of Montana’s public charter school law. Despite a last-minute appeal from consultant Todd Hanson, a primary supporter of the Liberty Academy Charter, and widespread recognition of the challenges underlying the proposal, board members felt they had no choice but to deny the application pending further information.
“We talk a lot about staying in our lanes, and I think this needs to go back to a legislative decision,” board member Madalyn Quinlan said. “It was very clear to me yesterday that we all want to try to help this work for students in Hutterite communities and that there are definite educational needs, especially related to cultural preservation and English as a second language.”
However, in a bid for clarity, Chair Tim Tharp did direct the board to hold a special meeting next week to discuss their concerns related to the Liberty application. The goal of that meeting, Tharp noted, will be to draft a request for a legal opinion from Attorney General Austin Knudsen answering the board’s questions. The board’s next step with the approved applications will be to finalize charter contracts with the individual school districts, a process that will unfold later this spring.
LATEST STORIES
State judge strikes down ballot envelope birth year requirement
An absentee ballot requirement that has resulted in thousands of Montana votes being thrown out since 2025 has been ruled unconstitutional by a state judge.
How candidates for U.S. House and Senate would try to make Montana more affordable
About four-in-five registered voters believe cost of living and affordability are very important in helping them decide who to vote for, according to a Montana Free Press-Eagleton poll of registered voters conducted in late August and early September. With the midterm election a month away, Montana Free Press asked the state’s candidates for federal office how they would address residents’ growing concerns about day-to-day expenses.
Criminal system advocates watch, wait as voters mull $175M jail expansion
As the county has grown, so has crime. Just last week, the county assigned a sergeant full-time to manage risks inside the jail from inmates with gang affiliations, Smart said.
