State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Elsie Arntzen Sends Preliminary School Quality Revisions to Montana Board of Public Education
HELENA – Superintendent Elsie Arntzen sent 48 of 50 recommended changes to Chapter 55 school accreditation to the Montana Board of Public Instruction (BPE). The Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (NRC) reached consensus on these 48 rules and will meet again on July 15 to continue negotiation on the final two rules. An economic impact statement on 12 rules was also sent to the BPE.
“My recommended changes focus on student success and educational excellence in our schools,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “I am grateful for all of the thoughtful work that the members of the Task Force and the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee put into researching and revising our school accreditation standards. Montana students and families deserve a transparent system of accreditation that delivers quality education.”
The two rules that the NRC will negotiate on July 15 are:
- ARM 10.55.709 – Library Media Services
- ARM 10.55.710 – Assignment of School Counseling Staff
In total Chapter 55 includes:
- 101 initial rules with 43 historically repealed, which leaves 58 rules
- Out of these 58 rules, there were no recommended changes to 13 rules, which leaves 45 rules
- There were five new proposed rules, which equals 50 rules
The NRC determined that 12 rules should be sent out in an economic impact survey to determine if there was any significant impact on school districts. The first survey of 10 rules had 652 respondents and the second survey of two additional rules had 121 respondents.
The process of revising the school accreditation rules began in September 2020 when the BPE agreed to open the rules for changes. From September to January 2022 the Office of Public Instruction researched the needs of our schools and how to better serve our students through updates to our school quality rules. From January 2022 to May 2022 an 11-member Task Force made recommended changes to the Superintendent. The NRC began negotiating the Superintendent’s recommended changes in February 2022.
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