BELGRADE — It's a number that has people in Belgrade talking - $854,692.45.
That’s the budget deficit Belgrade School District is expected to face in fiscal year 2027. It’s just one of many recent developments at Belgrade Schools that has left some parents feeling disappointed.
“It’s a long road; I’m not sure how they fix it,” said Nikki Jones.
Jones has lived in the Gallatin Valley for 15 years and moved to Bozeman in 2010. Her son is now at Belgrade Middle School, but first attended school in Big Sky.
“It’s a sharp contrast between Big Sky and Belgrade, seeing how they support their schools,” said Jones.
WATCH: A look into the malware attack, budget deficit at Belgrade School District
As Jones explains, she’s somewhat disappointed about the district’s handling of the malware attack, which happened nearly two months ago.
“My son’s thirteen, so of course his biggest news from school has been, ‘Well, they haven’t been able to take our lunch, like, the right way, and we haven’t been able to do these assignments,” she said.
Jones is not the only one feeling this way. Since the beginning of April, MTN News has received emails from concerned parents and teachers, who say the attack “affected school operations significantly…” and that “there’s a lack of transparency surrounding the cyberattack and data breach."
MTN reached out to Belgrade School District Superintendent Dede Semerad for comment several times over the past month. On Wednesday, she was not available for an interview.
The district office then directed MTN News to emails sent from Superintendent Semerad to Belgrade families and staff surrounding the technology issues on April 6th, May 18th, and May 19th. The most recent email confirmed the technology issues were caused by malware impacting certain systems and stated that “remediation funds are being used to restore functionality to affected systems.”
Superintendent Semerad also replied to MTN’s follow-up questions regarding the recent developments at Belgrade School District (her full response at the bottom of this article).
Beyond the recent malware attack, Belgrade residents also failed to pass the general fund levy during the May 5th election, which the district’s social media says would have been 100% allocated to increase staff wages and benefits.
Jones says she was not surprised by the vote.
“I think there’s just been a lot of stuff that’s been misconstrued, so getting new financing and funding is impossible for them,” she said.
Now, the Belgrade School District is heading into fiscal year 2027 with an $854,692.45 budget deficit, despite the budget being decreased by $231,378.50 for fiscal year 2027, according to the minutes of their most recent school board meeting.
One resident MTN received an email from says she feels “…trust has been broken through the lack of communication, transparency, and accountability.”
Other parents, Jones says, share the same sentiment.
“It’s the public’s need and want for new services, but then it’s also the administration’s transparency and what they’ve done so far to kind of lose that public trust,” said Jones.
MTN News also reached out to all seven school board members multiple times. One responded, directing MTN’s Esha Walia back to the district office. The others have yet to respond.
See below for Dede Semerad’s full response to MTN’s follow-up questions:
1) How is the school district taking steps to address the $850,000 budget deficit going into FY2027?
"Some of the resource savings will come from decisions the district already made, such as eliminating an assistant principal position at the middle school and replacing it with a dean position. In addition, when our student enrollment decreases, we look at staffing needs and make sure we are adjusting staff to match the number of students we have. We have a number of other items on the table as possible solutions such as reducing overtime budgets, increasing athletics and activities fees, and eliminating non-essential online curricular resources and professional development for staff. We are currently working with our educational groups in negotiations. After negotiations are complete and contract dollar amounts are determined, we will be able to finalize and share information about budget areas that were impacted."
2. What would Belgrade School District want to say to the Belgrade community and parents that might be concerned about recent events?
"We understand that the technology matter has caused concern and that waiting for additional information can be frustrating. Investigations of this nature take time and diligence to ensure they are accurate. We will share information as appropriate when it becomes available."
3. In terms of the technology issues — how much will it cost the school district?
"Since we are still in the investigation and restoration stages, we don't have a final cost for the technology issues. We are actively working with our insurance carrier regarding coverage for costs."
