Priorities
Broadly Speaking
As Trustees oversee district budgets and leadership, they must monitor and balance many intersecting issues. Kids come first. HPS’s top priority is to provide learning opportunities that fit the individual interests and needs of all students. Staff is at the heart of education, so we must support environments in which our teachers and staff have what they need to carry out their work. Schools must continually update their technologies, teaching methods, programs, and facilities to support 21st century learning. It’s challenging to carry out all these things amidst serious budget shortfalls. We need to ask the question: what changes will best position us to provide an excellent education for all our kids, now and into the future?
​
Specific Priorities
​
Address budget shortfalls with careful decision-making now, continued multi-year budget planning, and advocacy for changes to Montana's public school funding formula.
​
Maintain an excellent curriculum and programs that serve kids across a wide range of learning interests and needs. We need to keep in mind college-prep and CTE opportunities as well as newer programs such as charter schools, Kindersprout classrooms, and mental health initiatives.
​​
Recruit and retain great teachers and administrators by ensuring healthy, reasonable working conditions, opportunities to take part in district decision-making, and competitive compensation.
​
Move forward on facilities improvement. Helena has long prioritized other concerns at the expense of addressing our aging buildings. First up, we need to replace Helena High and remodel Capital High.
​
Continue to create opportunities for conversation among all district staff and community members, so we can work together productively on both exciting and difficult developments that continue to unfold in Helena Public Schools.
​
Advocating for HPS
Kay believes that advocating for Helena Public Schools means lending her efforts and voice to celebrate what’s going well and to always look for practical and creative ways to solve present problems and move towards an even better future. As she concludes her first term, she appreciates more fully how difficult it is to balance intersecting issues—and she knows a perfect solution is not possible. That said, she’s also confident that our district has a strong foundation and a leadership team that seeks to be proactive, collaborative, and remains, first and foremost, committed to kids. Together, we can and must continue to build upon Helena’s proud tradition of providing an excellent public education for all our kids.