By MACKENZEE SIMMS | Staff Writer

HELENA – After controversy erupted earlier this year over the city of Helena issuing money to a private school, the Helena City Council reassessed the TAG Team grant program and presented new proposed guidelines to the public at a regularly scheduled council meeting on Monday, July 22.

The TAG Team grant is a teachers assistance grant program, designed to aide teachers by providing funding for things the school board may not provide. The money for the TAG Team grants comes from Ordinance 806-11, which is also known as the one cent sales tax.

On April 8, the Helena City Council awarded its spring round of the biannual TAG Team grants, with two of the 32 total teachers working at the Hillsboro School, a private school in Helena. The decision to include this private school sparked outrage in the community, resulting in the Hillsboro School returning $18,220.94 to the city.

Now, three months after the city council vowed to improve the TAG Team grant program, the council presented refined guidelines to the community at the most recent council meeting.

The new guidelines will establish a Citizen Advisory Board to provide recommendations to the city council regarding the TAG Team grant process. After this Citizen Advisory Board gives their recommendations, the Helena City Council will approve or deny individual grant applications.

In addition, the new guidelines seek to define which schools are eligible for funding. Elligible schools include public schools located within the city limits of Helena and schools that have students that live within the city limits of Helena.

One of the audience members, Lauren Humphrey, expressed her desire for clarification on the possibility of any future funds going to any private schools.

“I think the bruhaha that happened before was because the money went to private schools and we felt like that was unfair,” Humphrey said. “Is there anything in the wording that says that these TAG grant funds are for public schools… and not private entities and private schools?”

Council President Alice Lobell confirmed that the new guidelines specify public schools, while Councilmember Hewy Woodman gave further insight.

“There is a section that says public schools in Helena and, I believe, (schools with) students who live in Helena who attend a public school outside the city limits,” Woodman said.

Since the money for the TAG Team grants comes from the one cent sales tax, the funds come from all Helena residents, not just those who are zoned for Shelby County Schools, including Helena residents that are zoned for Jefferson County Schools. The city council incorporated potential for those public schools to receive money from the TAG grant program.

Lobell shared her belief that these new guidelines would benefit the city of Helena and thanked guests from the community for attending.

“We do appreciate you being here because I guarantee you—I can speak I think for all five of us—we really want to what’s best for the city,” Lobell said. “We’re trying to do what’s best for the city by looking at all aspects of everything.”

The proposed updated guidelines for the TAG grant program will be voted on at the next Helena City Council meeting on Monday, Aug. 5.

According to Councilmember Laura Joseph, the city wishes for the community to use this time to respond to the council with feedback.

“I would like to encourage everyone if you have questions about it, or comments or any feedback that you’d like to share with us, please email your councilmembers and let us know,” Joseph said. “We won’t vote on it until next month, which should give us plenty of time to hear from you guys.”

The new proposed guidelines can be read at Cityofhelena.org/news-and-notices/