TF schools to receive GEAR UP funding.

Thompson Falls students will have access to the GEAR UP program for another seven years, high school Principal Jodi Morgan told the school board Monday night.

Morgan said that Sen. Jon Tester pressured the Biden administration to fund the program for Monta’as students. “That’s really, really, really good news,” Morgan stated.

“The Montana University System’s GEAR UP is one of the best tools we have to get kids ready for college, and it’s critical that it receives full federal support,” Sen. Tester said in a press release. “I’m glad to see the Biden Administration reverse this misguided decision and fund this program to support our rural students and ensure that every Montanan who wants to go to college is equipped to do so.”

Morgan said Monday that the school will not put together a budget proposal for the near $90,000 they will receive from the program this year. “In total we’ve received about $1.9 million from GEAR UP,” she explained. Morgan had reported earlier this year that Montana was not chosen for the program, which is funded in a seven-year grant cycle. Board member Ryan Frields asked about Running Start college courses, which were free under GEAR UP, and Morgan stated there is a program that can reimburse students for any costs for those classes this semester.

Also at Monday’s board meeting, Superintendent Bud Scully said that the school has increased the adult education offerings and congratulated all of the fall sports teams on their success. He also reported that all of the shop equipment and classes have moved into the new multipurpose building, and Morgan added that the old shop area is being cleaned up in order to move the weight room into the space.

The board voted to open negotiations with the certified union in order to begin discussing items including a one-time retirement incentive and salaries for the next two years. The collective bargaining agreement passed earlier this year solidified benefit packages for three years, but salaries for only one.

Junior high social studies teacher Danice Toyias gave a presentation on her trip to Germany over the summer. She was one of 55 teachers chosen for the Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP). “It was an incredible professional development experience,” Toyias said. “We learned about historic and contemporary Germany. We got to sit in the justice center where the Nuremberg trials were held.” They also visited a BMW facility in Leipzig. “It was amazing to see all the robots working and the people working alongside them,” she added.”

Toyias said she has one piece of the program to complete, in which she will study peaceful protests and their effects in both the United States and Germany.

The next school board meeting will be Monday, Dec. 2, at 6 p.m.