by John Dowd, Editor
Charter schools are becoming more popular across the country and creating opportunities for students to engage with learning in different ways, often at their own pace and in their own learning style. This year, the Stevensville School District has applied for two separate charter school programs.
Stevensville High School Principal Zeke Kaney and Stevensville Schools Superintendent Jon Konen met with the Bitterroot Star to discuss their proposals. Both programs would focus on high school students in the Stevensville School District.
The first of the two proposed charter school programs would be the Stevensville Health Science Academy. It would be a program designed for 60 high school students in ninth and tenth grades, and would give students access to real world experience, certifications, college coursework and more, engaging students in direct pathways towards careers in the field of healthcare.
According to Kaney, with the new Bitterroot Health clinic that was recently built in Stevensville, a partnership would make for a great opportunity for their students, right in the community. Currently, Stevensville already has some classes that give students access to healthcare-related courses online. However, they hope, in creating a charter school oriented around the healthcare field, they might be able to, “scale that out to a four year program,” as Konen described. According to him it would mean they “could actually have that teacher in house,” as right now the instructor they partner with teaches for five schools in the valley in the same online manner as for Stevensville.
The other charter program is called the Stevensville Alternative Steps Charter School, or “STEPS.” This program would be an expansion of the Stevensville Alternative Learning Center that already operates. The charter school would give these same opportunities, and more, to more students that aren’t already involved. Konen said, “More students are asking for that model,” and so they feel it would be powerful to expand it.
This charter program would create a more flexible and personalized learning model for enrolled students, allowing them to move at their own pace, “one step at a time,” said Konen.
Some of the courses would be online, one class at a time, making it better paced for individuals. The creation of this charter program would “expand and enrich what we already have,”with the current alternative learning program,” according to Kaney.
This program would also allow partnerships with Summit Career Center, among other places, to give students more direct access into the workforce.
Another current use which could be expanded is how the alternative learning center works well as a credit recovery program. Konen explained that the program has fewer breaks between courses, and allows students that have fallen behind to get caught up quickly.
The other interesting thing about the alternative learning center, which is a key component in what they will be able to do with the charter program, is that each student is often doing their own coursework in the same classroom. One may be studying or working on math, while another is tackling English.
In both charter programs, this is an important aspect, because students may still need some of the core Stevensville School classes. According to Konen, it also means “students still get to be part of the school culture here.” That includes athletics, clubs, extracurricular programs and more. “They can exist right alongside each other,” said Konen. This is part of what he described as a “school within a school” model.
“Both of these proposals reflect Stevensville’s deep commitment to providing meaningful, student-centered learning options,” said Konen. “The Health Sciences Academy prepares students for vital careers that support our community, while the STEPs program gives every learner a pathway to success—no matter their circumstances.”
The Stevensville School District defended their proposals to the Montana Board of Public Education on December 1. The state will only allow a certain number of charter programs each year, with limited funding available.
According to Kaney, charter schools receive funding allotted from the Montana Legislature. It is important for local residents to know that “this school will be completely funded by state money,” said Kaney. In other words, it means the district will not need to ask for any additional local taxes or levies to support the program.
Last year, 21 charters were proposed, but only five were awarded. This year, seven have been proposed across the state, including three in the valley. Florence School District was another in the area to propose a charter school program. However, only two in the Bitterroot Valley will be selected. The districts will learn mid-January of 2026 if they were selected to pursue their charter programs.
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