The 2023 Montana Legislature passed House Bill 203 which opens enrollment to people living outside their desired school district.
"Bozeman Public Schools has typically had closed boundaries due to lots of growth, rapid growth for our resident students," says BSD7 Superintendent Casey Bertram. "Open enrollment has occurred across the state. It's been a district-by-district decision."
Superintendent Bertram says the application process for nonresident families wishing to attend Bozeman School District for the 2024-2025 school year is now open.
"You go to our website, click on Enroll, go to 24-25 nonresident enrollment. There's a Google form there. That's name and age of student, date of birth, those types of things," says Bertram.
Bertram says the per-student formula for school funding remains unchanged by this bill.
“There's a percentage built for each district. And so the taxpayers in one district, in essence, pay the taxpayers in another district for educating that student,” says Bertram.
In other words, your school taxes go to the school your kids attend. Bertram says there are differing caps currently in place at different schools for the number of students that will be allowed into the Bozeman School District, and more teachers may need to be hired.
For more information about the bill and where to apply for nonresident enrollment, you can visit Bozeman School District 7's enrollment web page and click the 2024-2025 Nonresident Enrollment link under "Enrollment Information."
