Colstrip Public School District

Colstrip Public School District, a U.S. local government entity serving Colstrip, Montana, is a federal grant recipient operating as a prime recipient (78% of awards) and sub-recipient of education and nutrition assistance grants from the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture. The district does not hold federal contracts; all federal activity flows through grant instruments issued by federal agencies and sub-grants flowing through the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

The district's federal footprint concentrates entirely on education and child nutrition programming. The Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education accounts for 77 of 87 total awards (89% of activity), with the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service placing 7 awards and the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services placing 3 awards. As a prime recipient, Colstrip holds three recurring formula and project grant lines: the Small, Rural School Achievement Program (awarded annually each July, with most recent award July 1, 2026, running through September 30, 2027); the Indian Education Formula Grants to LEAs (awarded annually each July, most recent July 1, 2026, running through June 30, 2027); and the Impact Aid Program under Title VII, Section 7003 (CFDA 84.041). A recent Impact Aid award on October 1, 2025, carried $302,415 and runs through September 30, 2031, providing financial assistance to offset the district's reduced tax base resulting from federal property acquisition and the presence of children living on federal property or with parents on active duty in the uniformed services. Combined dollars obligated across all awards total $10.1 million since 2006. Activity has remained relatively flat in recent years — five awards in 2022, eight in 2023, six in 2024, eight in 2025, and three so far in 2026 — with only two awards (both sub-grants) facing ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months.

As a sub-recipient, Colstrip receives pass-through funding from the Montana Office of Public Instruction under CFDA 84.010 (Title I Part A), CFDA 84.027 (IDEA Part B), CFDA 84.367 (Title II), CFDA 84.425 (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief), and CFDA 10.555 (School Nutrition). Sub-awards cover core instructional support, special education, professional development, emergency school relief funds (including ESSER I, II, and III tranches), and child nutrition programming. Colstrip Public School District NO. 19 is listed as a subsidiary within the district's corporate structure but operates as an integrated component of the parent entity's federal compliance and grant administration.