State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Arntzen Submits Final Chapter 55 School Quality Recommendations to the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee
HELENA – Superintendent Elsie Arntzen has submitted her final recommendations to the Chapter 55 Negotiated Rule Making Committee (NRC). The NRC will begin reviewing these recommendations on June 9, 2022, and continue throughout the month of June. The Superintendent’s recommendations focus on educational excellence, the importance of teachers, and family and community involvement in student learning.
The Superintendent has recommended that staffing ratios for superintendents and principals be removed to allow local districts to staff leadership roles in the ways that best suit the needs of their students and teachers. The Superintendent’s recommendations align the leadership structure in Montana schools with the current state statute §20-4-401. The leadership needs of a school district are far more complex than a list of simple ratios. The demands on local school boards and the leadership within their districts continue to escalate.
“Basing school accreditation on outdated ratios misses the mark on measuring what determines a quality school,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “The class size for teachers has been protected because they are the most important factor in school quality for our children. Our parents want our local school boards to prioritize the staffing of our teachers first. In order to make that happen the local school boards need the flexibility to determine staffing needs.”
In the current rule, for example, superintendent ratios are categorized as:
- under 14 full-time licensed staff does not require a superintendent
- 14-18 full-time licensed staff equals .10 full-time equivalency (FTE) superintendent
- 18-31 full-time licensed staff equals .50 FTE superintendent
- over 31 full-time licensed staff equals 1.0 FTE superintendent
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