State Superintendent Susie Hedalen fielded a question on how the state is bracing for the end of the federal Department of Education.

“We are preparing,” Hedalen said. “We have been staffing up in critical areas and we stand ready.”

The question came as part of a panel discussion that included Missoula County Public Schools Superintendent Micah Hill and Lolo School District Superintendent Dale Olinger, on school funding and federal changes at the Missoula Public Library.

Hill discussed the stress of inflation on local districts and Olinger talked about how the changes at the federal level have made it hard to plan at the local level, along with staffing challenges from changes to immigration policy.

Hedalen has been a supporter of state-led education and was at the White House in March

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