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MCPS budget projections prompt board debate over third-grade class sizes
Summary
District finance projections presented possible staffing offsets and a net $63,000 elementary surplus, triggering public comments and trustee debate about keeping an extra third‑grade teacher at Chief Charlo and similar class‑size pressures across the district.
Missoula County Public Schools officials presented preliminary fiscal year 2026 general‑fund projections and staffing estimates, and trustees and members of the public pressed administrators about third‑grade class sizes at Chief Charlo and other elementary schools.
Pat McHugh, a district staff member who presented the projections, told the board that updated revenue items — including a TIF remittance and the state STARS Act quality educator payment (QEP) — let the district reach its maximum budget under the overbase levy and show a small elementary net positive of $63,000 in the projection. “We’re at this point net positive of 63,000,” McHugh said while reviewing the packet figures.
The discussion mattered to parents and teachers who said planned staffing changes would leave some third‑grade…
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