Superintendent Elsie Arntzen Emphasizes Building Quality Schools

• Brian O'Leary
• May 31 2022

HELENA – Superintendent Elsie Arntzen continues to recommend improvements to the established school quality standards that are housed in Chapter 55 of Montana’s Administrative Rules. On June 1, 2022, the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee will begin negotiations on eight additional recommendations.

“Our Montana students deserve a system that focuses on educational excellence,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “After five decades of minimal rule changes, I am modernizing the ways Montana measures student success and school quality. These changes allow local trustees flexibility in determining how to best serve their students and community.”

The following are the eight changes the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee will review

1. ARM 10.55.721 - The Superintendent recommends that schools review their safety and emergency plans annually instead of periodically. This change also requires community and family input.
2. ARM 10.55.801 – The Superintendent recommends that the limited examples of stereotypes be removed to broaden the definition.
3. ARM 10.55.802 – The Superintendent’s recommendation strengthens this rule to guarantee equality of educational opportunity to all students.
4. ARM 10.55.804 – The Superintendent’s recommendation reflects national standards for gifted and talented programming.
5. ARM 10.55.908 – The change from the Superintendent to add “state” to the federal accessibility standards for facilities.
6. ARM 10.55.909 – The Superintendent is modernizing this rule to allow for digital records as well as paper records.
7. ARM 10.55.1302 – This rule change will transfer to 10.55.1301 to combine student participation with a health enhancement program.
8. ARM 10.55.1801 – This rule change will ensure that the title of the program delivery standard includes “library media and information literacy program delivery standards” matching the title of the library media content standards that were adopted in 2019.

These recommended changes from the Superintendent are focused on modernizing the rules. Despite how schools operate, and how students learn, the resources available to schools have vastly changed since 1971. The state standards for school quality in Montana have not.

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