As of March 2010, it was the second-largest school district in the state of Montana,[5] and the third-largest employer in the city of Great Falls.
[11] The school district weathered a deeply divisive 15-day teachers' strike in 1975 in which class size and pay were the primary issues.
On September 10, 1990, the GFPS board of trustees met privately to discuss a report regarding collective bargaining negotiations with the Great Falls Education Association.
[16] The board rejected the report without discussion at its public session, at which time the local newspaper, the Great Falls Tribune, sued—arguing the private meeting was a violation of the Article II, Section 9, of the Montana Constitution (a particularly strongly worded provision that gives citizens the right to observe deliberations and examine documents at public meetings).
[16] GFPS attorneys argued that state law provided an exception in the case of collective bargaining negotiations.
Other projects considered included upgrading the HVAC and drinking water/sewer systems at both high schools, adding an all-purpose fieldhouse to C.M.
A "Yes for Great Falls Kids Ballot Initiative Committee" was formed by the school district and parents to drum up support for the two bond issues.
These include committees on: Budget, school year calendar, communication, curriculum, employee wellness, English as a second language instruction, curriculum implementation, insurance, labor-management relations, leadership team, staff development (PIR), staff development assessment (Professional Learning Community Time, or PLCT), safety, student wellness, superintendent's cabinet (an administrative leadership team), and technology.
[27] In 2009, the school district began facing major civil and criminal complaints about its treatment of special needs children.
[30] When news media reported the allegations, three other families made similar accusations of abuse to the Great Falls Police Department, but no charges came of them.
Montana's Attorney General Steve Bullock declined to investigate the allegations, arguing that this was the province of city prosecutors and he would not second-guess them without clear evidence of abuse of prosecutorial discretion.
On May 19, 2011, the Human Rights Commission ordered the school district to pay $150,000 to Schilling for discriminating against her son based on his mental, physical, emotional, and developmental handicaps.
[31] GFPS sued to overturn the decision of the Montana Human Rights Commission, and as of September 2014 the appeal was still not resolved.
Local physician Charles Astrin and his wife, Judy, made the bequest in memory of their daughter, Jennifer, a 1992 graduate of C.M.