Columbia Falls School District Primed for Second Run at Trades Academy Charter School
The school district last year proposed a charter school focused on trades education. After it didn’t receive approval from the state’s Board of Public Education, Columbia Falls went back to the drawing board to resubmit its pitch, with the hopes of moving the effort forward in 2027.
By Mariah Thomas
The Columbia Falls School District board of trustees voted Monday to move forward with a second proposal for the Columbia Falls Trades Academy, a charter school the district first pitched in October 2025. The district’s 2025 application was denied in January as Montana’s Board of Public Education approved only two new charter schools, the fewest it has given the nod to since 2023’s House Bill 549 allowed for existing school districts to create in-district charter schools.
Since the Board of Public Education denied its first proposal, the Columbia Falls School District has gone back to the drawing board to refine its application, which pitches a chance for Columbia Falls high students to learn skilled trades and earn credentials while in school. The school district has said it would add onto already-existing options to pursue the trades, such as the district’s Glacier Park Cabin Project where students help produce housing cabins and entrance stations in partnership with the park.
“There’s such a push in the state toward trades that I just think this is a great opportunity to be a model in the state for how this can work, and what it looks like, and what we can do for kids and the community, and really provide career, work-ready people when they graduate,” said board chair Jill Rocksund during a special board meeting approving the application’s submission Monday. “It’s exciting.”
In last year’s application, the school district pitched opening up the Trades Academy at Canyon Elementary in Hungry Horse. Students would learn framing, plumbing, electrical work, HVAC and full tiny home construction during a four-day school week, with Fridays reserved for internships and enrichment opportunities.
“Our vision is a Montana where students leave high school with marketable skills, deep community connections, and the confidence to contribute meaningfully to local industries and the economy,” the application stated. “This initiative is essential because it directly responds to a pressing need in the Flathead Valley and across Montana: a shortage of skilled tradespeople in construction, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and related fields.”
The district received feedback from the Board of Public Education that the 2025 proposal lacked evidence that “the proposed public charter school will create a high-quality academic program proposal, demonstrate a clear and convincing proof of likelihood of success, and demonstrate that they can open and operate a successful public charter school.” But the Board of Public Education also encouraged the district to refine its pitch and resubmit it.
This year, Columbia Falls Superintendent Cory Dziowgo said Monday, the school district’s application looks much the same as last year. Administrators have worked to refine it, however. The new application, Dziowgo told board members, includes several more-solidified partnerships with local businesses. Flathead Valley Community College also plans to submit a letter in support of the district’s proposal. The district is suggesting seventh and eighth graders would eventually be able to opt into the proposed Trades Academy as well, though they wouldn’t be able to join in the academy’s first year.
The district’s updated application is due to the Board of Public Education by Friday, Oct. 30. The Board of Public Education typically approves or denies charter school applications at its January meeting, slated for Jan. 14-15 in Helena.
Should the Board of Public Education approve Columbia Falls’ application, the Columbia Falls Trades Academy would plan to open in August 2027. It would join two other charter schools in the Flathead Valley.
Both the Kalispell Rising Wolf Charter and Flathead PACE Academy, associated with Kalispell Public Schools’ Glacier High and Flathead High respectively, were approved by the Board of Public Education in 2024. They were part of a batch of 19 charter schools approved by the board in the first year school districts could pursue that option, joining several other AA and A school districts in making pitches that year.
Charter schools approved by the Board of Public Education are granted for five years. Districts have a one-year buffer period to prepare ahead of opening an approved charter school.