Ennis schools proposes $45 million bond
By Gabrielle Gasser ASSOCIATE EDITOR
BIG SKY –The Ennis School District Board of Trustees will hold a meeting in Big Sky on Sept. 12 to engage with Big Sky voters and answer questions about its new proposed bond.
The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Big Sky Resort in the Shoshone Amphitheatre.
The Ennis board of trustees on Aug. 8 voted 5-0 to pass a $45 million bond resolution intended to improve and expand current school facilities. Among the electorate deciding this bond are 455 registered Big Sky voters residing in Madison County, who make up almost 12 percent of the Ennis School District voting bloc.
To keep up with the rapid growth in enrollment, the bond focuses on educational program needs, more classroom space, building code improvements and accessibility needs.
After a $59 million bond proposed by the district—the third largest bond ever proposed in the state of Montana—failed in the Feb. 8 mail-in election, the district went to voters to gather feedback.
“We heard loud and clear the concerns from the previous bond [that] ran last winter and have worked hard to address those concerns,” Ennis trustees wrote in an informational pamphlet on the new bond. “We appreciated the candid feedback from our district and believe it has helped guide us in our decision-making process.”
The new bond—which is $14 million less than the bond proposed earlier this year—will appear on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election. The impact on taxpayers will be $2.12 per month for every $100,000 of a home’s assessed market value.
