Affordable housing project underway for Ronan teachers

The Ronan School District is dedicating four newly built units to local teachers to address the affordable housing crunch educators are facing in Lake County. 

The two-bed units are split between two duplexes. They sit on a plot of land just a few blocks away from Ronan’s schools. Untenable rent payments have forced teachers out of the Ronan schools, Superintendent Mark Johnston said. He hopes this new construction can address that. 

“It’s been a big project,” he said.

Ronan schools Superintendent Mark Johnston tours a new affordable housing unit project for incoming teachers on Monday, Sept. 9 in Ronan.

SHANNA MADISON, Missoulian

Monthly rent payments around Ronan run between $1,000 and $1,500, according to Johnston, which is a big chunk of teachers’ salaries. New teachers in Ronan start at about $43,314 a year. 

Teacher pay is low across Montana. The statewide average teacher salary was $33,568, according to April 2023 data from the National Education Association cited in a Montana Legislature Office of Research and Policy Analysis document.

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