District overview
Valier Elementary School District #18
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
How Valier schools are paid for
Valier School District #18 runs the elementary, junior high and high school in Valier, in Pondera County, Montana, plus an attendance center at Kingsbury Colony. The elementary and high school districts are separate state districts but share one Board of Trustees, one superintendent/K-12 principal (Joshua Reed) and one clerk. Like most Montana districts, Valier is paid for mainly through the state school-funding formula plus local property-tax levies. It also gets federal Impact Aid because many students live on or near tribal lands, and it has saved about $857,000 of that money.
Impact Aid savings
$857,610 in Impact Aid funds as of February 2026 ($429,784 elementary, $427,826 high school). The clerk said it can be spent like general fund money.
Local levies going up
Non-voted levies were projected to rise from $40,190 to $105,801 for 2026-27, mostly for a new bus depreciation levy.
Grants pay for key programs
A Montana Reads literacy grant (about $1.2 million) pays for reading staff, training and summer school.
Small and shrinking
October 2025 enrollment count was 130. Trustees discussed declining enrollment (ANB) during the April 2026 contract talks.
The adopted 2026-27 budgets and the 2025-26 financial statements are linked from agendas but are not public, so total spending could not be checked.
Where the district stands
Major projects
Moving the Old Kingsbury School building for staff housing
underwayThe district is moving the old Kingsbury school building to district land in Valier to house staff, because the town has little housing for new teachers.
- Clerk reports on using Impact Aid to buy a house; chair named housing negotiator
- Board approves building and move (est. $45,000)
- Foundation poured; shop class to help retrofit inside
Funding
District funds, paid by crediting service charges owed by Kingsbury Colony
Sprinkler system and stage sound/lighting
underwayThe superintendent listed a sprinkler system and new stage sound and lighting among summer building projects paid from leftover year-end money.
- Board lets superintendent spend down 2025-26 accounts
- Sprinkler invoice to be dated June 30, 2026
- Project update on superintendent's report
Funding
Remaining 2025-26 general funds (about $160,000 left in June 2026)
Montana Reads literacy grant
underwayThe grant pays for a reading interventionist, paraeducators, the after-school program, Science of Reading training and summer school.
- Side by Side Consulting training approved (about $20,000)
- Summer school staffing approved
- $20,948 literacy reimbursement reported
Funding
State literacy grant
Recent news
Board agendas, minutes and agenda attachments (Google Docs and Drive files) linked from the district's School Board page, October 2025 to October 2026, plus the Indian Education Committee notes and a levy resolution. Scanned attachments were read with OCR.
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