Lincoln School election results

School Board

Lincoln School District had nine candidates to choose from for three seats on the Lincoln School Board this year.

The results saw incumbents Billy Cyr and Doug Mengel retain their seats, while voters elected Julie Zarske to the third open seat, which had been held by Ken Lumpkin.

Mill Levy

Voters also opted not to approve a 25.75 mill levy for the school. The increase was designed to raise $127,581.62 per year for the school budget.

The property tax increase was meant to help offset the loss of several sources of funding that expire this year. Three grants or funding sources – the 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant , the Montana Comprehensive Literacy Project Grant and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which came about to help schools deal with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic– all expire at the end of this school year.

The loss of funding is likely to have an impact on Lincoln Schools. Superintendent Jennifer Packer said the additional funding allowed them to hire extra teachers.

"The plan is to go through the school budget to see what we can do and who they can keep," she said, adding they may have to combine some classes.

Possibly the biggest loss may be the 21st Century Grant, which funds the POUNCE after school program. The school lost that grant funding in 2019 and 2020, but it was restored in 2021 through the summer of 2024. While the community helped to keep the POUNCE program alive during those gap years through donations and other support, it only funded a fraction of the programs costs.

One program that won't be affected by the loss of funds is the Preschool program, which originally received funding as part of the literacy grant. However, new funding from the federal government will keep it going.

The mill levy increase would have added $104.29 per year for homeowners with a home valued at $300,000 . The timing of the request likely had an impact on decisions to vote it down, coming as it did on the heels of a significant statewide property tax increase earlier this year.