BILLINGS — Tuesday marked a later start date for the first day of school for Billings School District 2 students, staff and faculty.
While some students, such as first grader Samuel Santiago, were nervous for the day, other students, like kindergartener Gabriella, were very excited.
Whatever emotion the students, or parents, were feeling Tuesday, one thing is certain: They all had a few more weeks of summer than usual.
“We had a great summer. We spent a lot of it at Lake Elmo,” said Samuel's father, Jason Santiago. “He actually learned how to fish this year, and got excited about that. So it's been a blessing this summer.”
Chelsea Landrey, the mother of a fourth grader, said her daughter spent more time in nature this summer.
“It was great. She got to spend some extra time in Wyoming with grandma and nature and mountains and horses. She's super excited to be back,” Landrey said. “She's in fourth grade and we are super excited for all the changes in the new school year.”
Those changes include new students coming from the shuttered Washington Elementary School and the later start date.
In 2023, School District 2 trustees voted to bump back the start date by nearly two weeks, citing the cooler September weather for high school students. Billings West has no air conditioning, and only parts of Billings Senior has it.
Superintendent Dr. Erwin Garcia said last December that it would cost $24 million to add air conditioning to those buildings, which he said would fall to the public to pay for. So, the district opted for the later date.
