After nearly three years of consideration, Helena Public School District officials decided Tuesday night to close Hawthorne Elementary, citing declining student enrollment, deferred maintenance costs and the need to sustain a balanced budget.
The Helena School Board of Trustees voted 6-1 to close Hawthorne, built in 1921 at 430 Madison Ave., which housed about 180 students and 27 staff members this school year.
Closing Hawthorne, one of the district’s oldest school buildings, has been discussed within the Helena school community for several years. However, the debate moved to the forefront after Superintendent Rex Weltz formally recommended the closure of Hawthorne to the trustees earlier this year.
“ We’re close to where we want to be. Unfortunately, being close to where we want to be means that we’re talking about another cut,” board trustee Janet Armstrong, who is also the district budget and finance committee chairperson, said during Tuesday’s meeting. “ We understand the meaning of a community and we respect the feelings, but the job as the chair is to make sure that the overall needs of the district are met and that we deal with the challenges we have; therefore, [I] agree with the recommendation.”
Other factors that contributed to the district’s budget crisis and ultimately the Hawthorne closure included the rising costs to maintain district buildings and the state’s school funding formula, which trustees said does not provide enough money.
The district’s master facility plan, created last school year as a tool for district officials to use when making budgetary decisions, indicated that Hawthorne would need $4.6 million in maintenance.
Closing Hawthorne will save the school district about $1 million of its nearly $1.5 million general fund deficit, according to district staff.
Teachers and parents of Hawthorne students have voiced their opposition to the closure during several school and community meetings leading up to Tuesday night’s vote, pleading with school officials to find ways to address budget shortfalls without closing one of Helena’s neighborhood schools.
In April, the school district released information outlining the impacts of keeping Hawthorne open in an attempt to provide the community with some answers. The information specified that the district’s elementary nurses, music and P.E. teachers would be at risk of being cut, saving the district about $936,000.
More than 200 people watched the board meeting Tuesday, either virtually or in person, but only a few spoke on the elementary closure, highlighting their frustrations with the lack of transparency on budgetary details and their loss of trust in school district leaders.
One Hawthorne parent, Kris Goss, commented on the lack of detail within the meeting agenda packet.
“ One sheet of paper with one sentence, recommending the closure of the school, and that reflects what the decision is made,” Goss said. “That reflects that you don’t have data, that you’re not susceptible to passion, that you don’t want to listen to reason. … And what have we been left with? The same explanation, that we’re gonna balance the budget on the backs of these kids.”
“ In a time when public education is under threat, you have alienated your biggest allies,” said Hanna Warhank, another Hawthorne parent. “ I have always been an adamant supporter of public education, but you ruined that for me. I no longer trust the leaders of Helena Public Schools. I know that I don’t trust them with my money, and if it weren’t for the wonderful teachers and educators at the schools, I wouldn’t trust them with my children.”
Trustee Rachel Robison was the only board member to vote against the closure and said the district had rushed the decision critical to students and families.
“ I have always been an adamant supporter of public education, but you ruined that for me.”
Hawthorne parent Hanna Warhank
“ This year, Hawthorne is deemed expendable at a rushed pace,” Robison said during the meeting. “Despite the extremely successful legislative funding session this year, the most changes we’ve seen in 20 to 25 years, the school district wants to rush the changes without adequate transition planning and timeline for the most vulnerable students, and those educators pour their heart and soul into these students and this community every day.”
Students and four teachers from Hawthorne will be transferred to Central or Kessler elementary schools, the two closest schools to Hawthorne. Depending on the positions available, the remaining staff will fill vacancies throughout the district.
The closure of Hawthorne is one of many areas the district selected for budgetary cuts when it first began working in 2022 to decrease its then $6.8 million budget deficit. Since then, cuts have been made to more than 30 teaching positions and some school programs.
“It’s just heartbreaking to see that we’re in a political climate where small schools are not supportable and sustainable,” Hawthorne Principal and P.E. teacher Jesika Fisher told Montana Free Press after the vote.
While this was her first year as principal, Fisher said that the Hawthorne community greatly impacted her career and that she will continue to support her students during their move to other schools.
“ They’re going to two wonderful schools with wonderful administrators and wonderful staff who will support them and love them. It’s gonna be okay, but we’re gonna be with them through the journey,” she said.
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