State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Arntzen's Statement on the Board of Public Education's Action Related to Public Charter School Implementation
HELENA - Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen sent the Montana Board of Public Education (BPE) a letter on March 22, 2024, regarding the opening of public charter schools.
Following BPE's action on March 25, 2024, Superintendent Elsie Arntzen said the following:
“I have and will continue to be a proponent of choice and innovation in education while respecting our elected government officials.
I will follow the law as it is written, and OPI will continue to act lawfully within Title 20. Public Charter Schools are indeed public schools and therefore subject to all laws within Title 20. Nothing in HB 549 changes or waives the existing, statutory school opening process.
A path forward was offered to the Board, which was to create a rule or policy to clarify a missing reference to current law. OPI will continue to work with our Montana public schools to prioritize students and abide by the law in a timely manner.
We need to roll up our sleeves and focus on lawfully opening these schools, not getting caught in an endless loop of rhetoric. I will not put our students or state at risk by circumventing the laws of our great state.”
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