Bozeman schools prefer kids in class on MLK Day

As more families from other states move to Bozeman, some parents are surprised or upset to learn that kids here don’t get a holiday from school on Martin Luther King Day.

Bozeman schools use the day as an opportunity to teach kids about the slain civil rights leader, but Superintendent Rob Watson told School Board trustees Tuesday that some parents see it as diminishing King. They worry about the message it sends to the larger community.

“It’s a little alarming for some folks,” Watson said. “They see it as almost a slight.”

Trustees discussed informally the idea of changing Jan. 15, a federal and state holiday, to a day off school. But in the end, all said they prefer the way Bozeman schools celebrate the day now — by asking classes to teach students lessons about King, his service and sacrifice.

“I’ve had friends say we’re not progressive, Montana’s behind the times,” Board Chair Andy Willett said. “I’d rather keep it staying in school, but inform the community” about school observances of King.

“I think it’s really important,” Trustee Sandy Wilson, a retired Anderson School teacher, said of the King observances in class. “I loved having kids in school. I saw incredible things.”