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Montana Public Education News Summaries
Helena teacher's union votes down a 1% salary increase
The Helena Education Association has voted down the contract proposal from Helena Public Schools.
In December, 416 members of the association voted the contract down out of the 462 total members.
“We are going to go back to a consensus negotiations plan where we will have a facilitator,” [Superintendent Rex Weltz] said.
“There were many different factors besides the 1% salary increase that caused teachers to not vote for the contract,” HEA president Jane Shawn said.
Helena IR: Helena teacher's union votes down a 1% salary increase
State board approves GFPS charter school
The Montana Board of Education approved 19 charter school applications, including the CORE School from Great Falls Public Schools, on Jan. 19.
Jane Hamman, board member, led the board’s charter school subcommittee and said during the meeting that the contracts would include baseline performance measures and the state would determine what funding would be available to each charter school.
Morningside Elementary School was selected in November as the location for the new CORE School.
GFPS teachers who aren’t selected for the CORE School will be able to move to another school under the existing process in their collective bargaining agreement, according to district administrators.
In early 2024, the district will hold informational sessions for families who live outside of the Morningside attendance area who are considering enrollment in the CORE School for the upcoming academic year.
Current students at the selected school will have the option to stay, but for those that want to leave, they could be moved to a nearby school or go through the district’s existing permissive transfer process.
The classrooms will be filled to state capacity and will use a lottery system to fill any available elementary student slots at the lab school, district officials said.
Even if the district wasn’t approved as a public charter school, district staff said they’d move forward with their plan to turn one existing elementary school to turn into CORE School in an effort to address teacher recruitment and retention.
CORE School will essentially be a learning laboratory and will be staffed by teachers with masters degrees who go through a separate selection process and will also be hired as adjunct staff for the University of Montana-Western’s education program.
The student teachers from university programs will be hired by the district as paraeducators or teacher aides, which have also been in short supply, while they’re completing their degree program in an immersive educational setting.
Mainwaring said there’s been some misconceptions about what a public charter school is. Under the new state law allowing the creation of public charter schools, public money stays with public schools with the advisory committee and school board retaining oversight.
If approved as a public charter school, it will get slightly more from the state than the standard base funding that’s determined by enrollment, which could free up some general fund dollars for other district needs, Mainwaring said.
The public charter schools also have some flexibility to accept private funding, which could offset some costs or allow for some enhancements, GFPS officials said.
Montana prepares to launch new education savings accounts
Montana’s Office of Public Instruction is preparing this winter for the implementation of a new program that will make public education funds directly available to the families of students with special needs.
With the Legislature’s passage last year of House Bill 393, Montana is set to become one of 13 states where parents can apply for government reimbursement for certain educational services obtained outside the public school system. The restrictions placed on such reimbursement programs — known as “education savings accounts” — vary from state to state. Programs in Arizona and Florida are nearly universal, while Montana’s education savings accounts can only be used for services related to special education.
“I want to help in any way possible to make it easier for the parents of special needs children to get their kids the education that they need,” Walter said, “because it doesn’t always fit in the same box and it doesn’t always fit in the public setting.”
“My interest is to make sure that this isn’t just a transfer of public dollars into private schools,” Curtiss said of her role on the committee, adding that she also intends to ensure that Individualized Education Plans — federally mandated documents developed for each student with special needs in the U.S. — serve as a primary guide in HB 393’s implementation.
Montana Free Press: Montana prepares to launch new education savings accounts
Board of Public Education approves first wave of Montana charter schools
Montana’s Board of Public Education unanimously approved applications for 19 new charter schools across the state Friday, giving the 11 public school districts that submitted them the green light to proceed with standing up the new institutions.
The new charters represent Montana’s first wave of schools made possible by House Bill 549, which was passed by the Legislature last year and allows existing public school boards to set up and manage charter schools with narrowly tailored educational goals. The approved charters will see new schools established in Billings, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula, Bozeman, Frenchtown, East Helena, Hamilton, Boulder and Corvallis.
State board members have reviewed a total of 26 charter proposals submitted under the new public district charter school law in recent months. One proposal was rejected early in the process as the applicants had not consulted their local school board, and another was withdrawn by the applicants Friday just prior to the board’s action. The board denied five other proposals in a separate vote Friday.
Thursday’s discussion also revealed a number of higher-level dilemmas board members have faced in their first bid at implementing district-run charters. One such pain point involved legal questions about the ability of charters to offer online enrollment and instruction for students outside their district’s boundaries. Hamman noted Montana law currently contains several contradictory provisions related to out-of-district enrollment that could raise legal issues for charters built around widespread online instruction.
Board members also wrestled with the more existential question of what one of HB 549’s primary charges — that charters offer “innovative” instruction — actually means, with Hamman quipping that one proposal had her turning to “the dictionary and thesaurus” to better define the term. The board had rated several proposals expanding pre-existing programs in certain districts as lower in terms of their innovative appeal, but rated similar charter applications in districts where such programs hadn’t been tried yet as higher. Despite those ratings, board member Anne Keith pointed out some applications built around pre-existing district programs had fallen higher on the board’s ranking list than others proposing the same model of instruction.
The board expressed particular concern over a charter proposal submitted by the Park City Schools, which involved administering online instruction with the aid of a for-profit vendor, Pearson Online and Blended Learning. That detail — coupled with the proposal’s projected long-term enrollment of more than 1,000 students statewide — prompted several board members to question the charter’s potential impacts on enrollment in other districts throughout Montana.
Members also got a look at the latest totals of teachers licensed by OPI for the 2023-24 school year. Crystal Andrews, the agency’s director of accreditation and licensure, told the board the number of new educator licenses issued this academic year was 246 higher than in the 2022-23 school year — a promising development in a state contending with ongoing teacher recruitment and retention challenges.
Montana Free Press: Board of Public Education approves first wave of Montana charter schools
Billings Schools program views wrongdoing as a 'learning opportunity'
As county commissioners hatch plans for a multimillion-dollar jail expansion, the Billings Public School system is taking a different approach to addressing youth violence and crime by training school staff to teach conflict resolution skills.
In the new Billings schools program, wrongdoing and conflict are viewed as learning opportunities. Misbehavior is reframed as harming people and relationships, rather than breaking school rules.
The grant-funded restorative practices training for 30 elementary school and 30 middle school staff, including teachers, counselors, and principals, which was conducted by a Colorado-based non-profit called Restorative Justice Education.
“It’s not the removal of consequences, but the addition of strategies,” Burkhardt said.
The foundation of the program is building community in schools, through a daily community building circle that gives students the opportunity to connect with one another.
Billings Gazette: Billings Schools program views wrongdoing as a 'learning opportunity'
Billings school panel to recommend banning of 'Assassination Classroom' in library
A panel appointed by the Billings school board recommended Monday that the book “Assassination Classroom” be banned from school classrooms and libraries.
The panel included three board members, Jennifer Hoffman, Andrea Nemitz and Brooke Wagner. The three discussed the graphic novel at a meeting at the Lincoln Center and concerns brought forward by a parent. The book by Yusei Matsui was challenged and reviewed by Billings School District 2 following a complaint about violent content.
“I just have a difficult time in our current climate in having a series of books, whether it’s fictitious, science fiction, manga, whatever it is that depicts and glorifies killing our teachers,” said Hoffman. “We love our teachers and want nothing but our teachers to be safe, and I know that there’s a lot of people that see it differently and see that this book is purely entertainment.”
At the meeting, members of the public were allowed to comment on whether it should be banned from the district. One attendee, Darrell James, a former educator and substitute teacher for the district, spoke against the ban and said the popular book can be a positive for some students.
“They didn’t read this book. They found a sensational graphic and they cherry-picked something that they found offensive without understanding it in context at all. This book is what we call a modern allegory. ‘Assassination Classroom’ is an allegory about an oppressive and rigid educational system that lets the misfits slide,“ said James.
“There’s a reason other states are jealous of Montana and other countries are jealous of the United States. We have strong personal freedoms and personal responsibilities. If you ban books, you take our right to exercise both of those away from us. No more personal freedom and no more personal responsibility. I don’t need and I don’t want students to be parented by the government. Let’s leave it to the experts,” said James.
KTVQ: Billings school panel to recommend banning of 'Assassination Classroom' in library
Bozeman schools respond to statewide bomb threats, classes continue with increased police presence
Students and families saw increased police presence at Bozeman Public Schools Wednesday after bomb threats were emailed to school districts across the state.
“We are appreciative of Bozeman Police Department patrol officers and our SROs who have walked through all buildings following the widely distributed email bomb threat across the state last evening,” Bertram wrote in the second email.
The district was advised that the threat is likely a “hoax to cause disruption and concern across law enforcement and school systems in Montana,” Bertram said.
“While all threats are taken seriously, this widespread spam email bomb threat quickly was investigated by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and determined to be an email hoax designed to cause a stir and create anxiety for law enforcement, school districts and local communities across the state,” Bertram said in a follow-up email Wednesday afternoon.
“Unfortunately those types of hoax threats are increasing in prevalence in Montana and across the country.”
Blizzard Prompts School Closures Across Flathead Valley
“Due to impassable and unknown road conditions for many of our bus routes, Kalispell public schools will be remote instruction today. Our top priority is to ensure our students and staff are safe,” according to a statement from Randy Cline, interim superintendent of Kalispell Public Schools (KPS), one of the numerous districts that announced closures early Thursday. “We work very hard to avoid school closures as it is difficult on students, families, and staff. Please know that the safety of our students and staff remains our top priority.”
Flathead Beacon: Blizzard Prompts School Closures Across Flathead Valley
Pallister pleads guilty to illegally possessing homemade bombs, silencer
A Helena man admitted Tuesday to illegally possessing homemade bombs and a silencer after being accused of attempting to attack Helena High School in May 2022, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
Pallister was arrested at his residence May 31, 2022, where authorities found eight firearms, including three semi-automatic rifles and five handguns. He was walking toward his car from his residence, wearing a black trench coat and carrying a bag.
The documents said Pallister had been making threats to attack Helena High School.
The person who reported Pallister said he discussed wanting to commit a Columbine-style attack at a high school and he had ammunition in his car and purchased a black trench coat similar to those involved in the Columbine shooting.
Pallister showed the individual a small propane canister with a fuse sticking out of one end, while he proceeded to threaten the individual and said he would kill them if they said anything about the bomb, documents state.
“We are grateful to the individual who bravely alerted law enforcement to Mr. Pallister, and to our Helena Police Department whose response led to his apprehension and arrest,” Helena Public Schools superintendent Rex Weltz said.
Helena IR: Pallister pleads guilty to illegally possessing homemade bombs, silencer
news/education.txt · Last modified: 2024/01/14 20:14 by lmuszkie