The number of staff walking Big Sky’s halls has decreased since last year. 

Seven full time teaching positions were cut last year due to Missoula County Public School (MCPS) budget changes. 

Matthew Shedlock, former Big Sky teacher, was one of the staff members let go as a result of the budget cuts. In a recent video interview, Shedlock said he found out he would not be returning to Big Sky on Thursday, March 16th. “I remember this because it was the day before my daughter’s birthday,” Shedlock said.  

Shedlock  had worked at Big Sky for three years. In his third year, he worked in the recently founded Media Business Academy (MBA) as an English teacher. 

Shedlock had come to Missoula County Public Schools after previous years of teaching, but his experience in this former district didn’t carry over. To be considered a tenured teacher for MCPS, you have to work for the district for four years and pass annual administration performance reviews. 

When asked about how the tenure system works, Big Sky Principal Jennifer Courtney said, “If you’re a teacher and you’ve taught for three years and have successful evaluations, you are brought back in your fourth year, and you would then have tenure.” 

In the 2023-24 school year, MCPS had to make a big budget cut that led to laying off teachers, namely those who were non-tenured. Courtney said non-tenured teachers were given a “pink slip,” which told them that they weren’t going to have a job next year.

The school district had Big Sky cut seven full-time teaching jobs. In total, there were 47 different teaching cuts around the MCPS district related to the budget concerns, according to Montana Public Radio.

The MCPS budget issues can be linked back to the coronavirus pandemic. When COVID-19 hit, the federal government offered “COVID money” to schools to help support remote education and programming. 

“Lots of schools used that money to pay for things,” Courtney said. Those things included supplies for classrooms, furniture, and other education related equipment.  

Courtney explained that MCPS used its COVID money to pay teachers and staff. 

“That is risky because that money goes away eventually,” said Courtney. She called this the “COVID cliff.” 

Although the staffing layoffs stemmed from MCPS budget cuts and concerns, Courtney oversees all Big Sky budgeting, which includes everything from school supplies and field trips to staffing and academy program funding. 

“When it comes to the staffing budget, that is all decided at the district level,” Courtney explained. She said that money is then allocated to schools based on needs and wants. 

A big part of Big Sky’s funding is the students. The district pays the school $10,000 for kids who are fully enrolled in the school, meaning they have at least five classes in their seven-period schedule. “I encourage every student to be fully enrolled, that is a solid source of funding for us,” said Courtney.

Big Sky also gets federal money from the Title One program, which “provides supplemental financial assistance to school districts for children from low-income families,” according to the National Center for Education Statistics The center website also notes that Title One’s  purpose is to “provide all children a significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps by allocating federal funds for education programs and services.”

Federal money also supports SPED programs and classes, Courtney said. She explained that, hypothetically, if federal money were to get cut, then kids that need free lunches wouldn’t get them, and some SPED programming would also get cut. 

We asked Courtney if MCPS received any info about what would happen if the current administration decides  to cut the national Department of Education.  

“There hasn’t been any communication from the district level if there will be impacts, and honestly I think it’s because no one knows,” Courtney said. 

“There is certainly a worry about that federal funding because it’s federal money, and that can go away pretty quickly,” Courtney said. “We will lose some of that Title money just because it’s already been cut from the federal government to the state government, then to the district. And if it then is cut even more, that will impact teachers, because it’s all tied up in paying for people.” 

With last year’s cuts, Courtney said all non-tenured staff at Big Sky received “pink slips” initially. However, she said there was a situation where she could bring back some of these teachers. Ms. Courtney was not allowed to disclose information about who was cut and why some stayed due to district and union confidentiality policies. 

One of the teachers who was displaced but then able to stay at Big Sky was Matt Keenan. 

“I was in a little bit of a different situation, because my position did not go away, but someone else’s position in another school did go away, and that person had tenure over me. That person was then essentially able to move into my spot,” Keenan explained when asked about last year’s cuts. At the time, he had been teaching Spanish and was in his third year at Big Sky. 

“I was essentially asked to be patient while I wait to hear if I’m being asked back,” Keenan said. 

Keenan is still working at Big Sky, but now has two different roles, both part-time. Keenan is a part of the Health Science Academy, now known as HPS,  and teaches three education courses as one of the academy’s career pathways. The other half of Keenan’s role is through the Title One program and entails academic interventions with students, which includes support for students failing their classes and in-school suspensions.

For Shedlock, after he was let go from Big Sky he was initially offered a job with the Connect Academy, which is an all online school. 

“I was planning on teaching with the Connect Academy this year, but then Hellgate High School announced they had a position available,” Shedlock said. “I remember this because they hired me on the day of my (wedding) anniversary.” 

Shedlock now teaches English 3 and U.S. History for the Knights. Shedlock said he had previously taught US Government and economics before coming to Missoula, and was excited about his new role at Hellgate. 

“It was cool to be returning to that,” said Shedlock. 

Shedlock has also taken on the role of being the freshman coach for football at Hellgate High School, and is coaching with  the newly founded Knights freshman baseball team. 

“I don’t get to work with any academies here, I kinda miss that, I don’t get to coordinate with the different teachers like I did last year,” said Shedlock when asked what he misses about Big Sky. 

He also noted “Big Sky has a really great teaching staff, its sad for me not to be around those fun teachers.”