Lewis and Clark County mail ballots for May 5 school levies election

Mail ballots for the May 5 school levies election were moving through Lewis and Clark County by April 21, giving Helena and East Helena households their first look at a ballot that asks for new school funding and other local decisions. The county says ballots must be back at the Lewis & Clark County Election Office by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and postmarks will not count.

That deadline matters because this election is being run entirely through the county’s mail system, not a traditional polling-place rush. Lewis & Clark County Elections administers federal, state, county and special-purpose district elections, maintains registration files for about 50,000 voters, covers 33 precincts, and relies on more than 200 election judges. The Election Office is on the first floor of the City-County Building at 316 N. Park Ave., Room 168, in Helena.

For Helena Public Schools, the ballot is a direct test of whether voters will keep paying for the district’s basic technology and operating needs. The 2026 election includes separate elementary and high school technology levies, plus an elementary general fund operations levy. The district says the technology requests are meant to maintain existing devices, software licenses, cloud services, network and security systems, and technical support, not to expand classroom screens or launch major construction.

The elementary technology levy would authorize $1.6 million per year for 10 years. Helena Public Schools says that would cost about $8.66 a year on a $100,000 home, $25.97 on a $300,000 home and $55.47 on a $600,000 home. The high school technology levy would raise $850,000 per year for 10 years, with estimated annual costs of $4.20, $12.59 and $26.89 on those same home values.

The third question reaches deeper into day-to-day school operations. Helena Public Schools says the elementary general fund faces a nearly $2 million deficit for the 2025-26 school year. The district says it already made major cuts after the 2024 levies failed, including reductions in music and physical education staffing. It also says staffing was reduced districtwide, high school teacher class loads increased, middle school programming was trimmed, combination classrooms were added at elementary schools and Hawthorne Elementary was closed after enrollment declines and budget and infrastructure concerns.

District materials frame the ballot as part of Montana’s broader school-funding structure, where state aid does not fully cover the cost of running modern schools. For Helena and East Helena families, the immediate question is not abstract: whether to send back a ballot that could determine how much technology, staffing and program stability local schools can keep in place for the years ahead.