Helena school board approves boundary redraw to balance enrollment

The Helena School Board of Trustees unanimously approved a redraw of attendance boundaries on Jan. 14, 2026, a move designed to redistribute student enrollment ahead of a major facilities program. The boundary changes are tied to a $283 million bond voters approved in 2025 that will rebuild Helena High, replace Kessler Elementary and fund renovations at Capital High, and the district says the new lines are intended to create capacity and balance enrollment as those projects come online.

District officials set a phased implementation so disruption is limited. The plan will take effect beginning with students newly enrolling for the 2026–27 school year — primarily incoming kindergartners and sixth-graders — while most existing students may remain at their current schools. Transportation routes will be adjusted and the district will allow sibling and limited-transport exceptions to reduce hardship for affected families.

Key shifts target capacity problems at Four Georgians Elementary and feeder-pattern imbalances between Helena’s two high schools and middle schools. Many students currently zoned for Four Georgians — which the district has identified as at capacity — will be rezoned to Rossiter Elementary, with approximately 70 elementary students projected to move. Feeder-pattern adjustments are expected to move neighborhoods from Capital High and C.R. Anderson Middle School patterns to Helena High and Helena Middle School; Helena High is projected to gain roughly 136 students over time, and about 90 students are expected to transition from C.R. Anderson to Helena Middle.

Those numerical projections highlight the scale of change: shifting enrollment by hundreds of students affects classroom sizes, staffing plans and bus logistics across the district. From a budgetary and operational perspective, rebalanced attendance zones aim to smooth utilization rates so the heavy capital investments from the 2025 bond can be matched with efficient day-to-day operations. Over time, the district will likely adjust staffing, program placements and transportation schedules to reflect the new demand patterns.

For local residents, the immediate impact will be concentrated in neighborhoods moved between schools and in families with children entering kindergarten or sixth grade next fall. Parents should expect notices from the district about new school assignments and bus-route changes and should check for sibling or limited-transport exceptions if they face hardship.

Looking ahead, the boundary redraw is one step in a multi-year transition as rebuilt and renovated facilities come online. The changes aim to level enrollment pressure now so classrooms and support services are sized appropriately when the new Helena High and Kessler Elementary open and Capital High’s renovations are completed. For families and neighborhoods, the shift represents both short-term adjustments and a long-term reshaping of school communities across Lewis and Clark County.