General Election: November 8, 2022

OPI Law Conference: November 10, 2022, see flyer below

Caucus meetings: November 16-19, 2022.

Brawl of the Wild Tailgate at OPI: November 16 in the parking lot of 1227 11th Ave. Please come and join us while you are here for Caucus to enjoy hamburgers and hotdogs while showing your support for the Cats or Griz! The 121^st Brawl of the Wild will be held on November 19, 2022, in Bozeman.

Swearing in Ceremony: January 2, 2023

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Panel: January 2, Capitol Room 303

Tribal Education Caucus: Capitol Room 350 every Thursday beginning in January

Education Caucus: Capitol Room 335 every other Tuesday beginning in January

Indian Education: February 14, 2023, Capitol Rotunda

Celebrating Women’s History: March 15, 2023, Capitol Rotunda

MT Ready Day: April 12, 2023, Capitol Rotunda

1. A Promise is a Promise: Base Aid requirements to fund Public Schools
2. Teacher Dollars Working for Teachers: Reallocating Teacher Licensing fees to support the teacher licensing system
3. Updating Audiology Equipment: one-time-only funding
4. Student Mental Health: Amending mental health tuition payments to allow tuition for any residential mental health

Jenna was born and raised in Montana and received a Bachelor of Science from Liberty University in 2011. Jenna studied Law at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Jenna’s work experience includes serving as a Field Representative for U.S. Senator Steve Daines and working on numerous statewide campaigns. Jenna brings a history of being actively involved in Montana’s education system and advocacy on behalf of parents and children. Jenna currently serves on her local school board.

Andy Campbell is a native Montanan who grew up in Pendroy and graduated high school in Choteau. I spent eight years in the United States Marine Corp where I was introduced and trained in the IT field. I am a geek at heart and love the technology field, which I have been doing for nearly 40 years. In addition to the Marine Corp, I worked 17 years with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, 4 years as a Technology Coordinator for the Conrad Public Schools, and 10 years with Mountain Pacific Quality Heath. I am also a retiree with the Montana National Guard. My wife and I call Helena home and where we raised our two sons. Family is very important to us, and we love spending time with our kids and grandkids. When we are not chasing grandkids around watching them play sports, we are golfing, traveling, and enjoying the great Montana outdoors with our family and friends.

Ashley Perez is a native Montanan born in Hamilton but raised in Helena. I have spent the last almost 20 years in the Army, eight of which were on active duty with one deployment and the rest in the Montana Army National Guard. After getting off active duty, I attended Carroll College and received a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. I have spent the last nine years doing actuarial work at the State Auditor’s Office. I enjoy doing CrossFit and spending time outdoors camping, boating, and skiing with my husband and two children. I look forward to my new role at OPI and serving the great people of Montana in a different capacity.

The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) has launched its Montana Alternative Student Testing (MAST) Pilot Program initiative to seek “through year” assessments as, federally allowed by the U.S. Department of Education (USED) under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015.The first testing window for the MAST pilot program will begin in November. Montana was one of ten states awarded Federal dollars, gave ability to run the pilot. Montana students and teachers demand a growth model of assessments that provides immediate feedback on learning and accurately measures student success. The OPI set a participation goal of 30 districts and 3,200 students. Of the 3,200 students, there will be 1,600 students in each 5^th and 7^th grade taking both the math and reading tests. As of September 30, there are 46 participating districts and over 5,000 students. These districts are:

Please check below to see if your school district is on this list:

Superintendent Arntzen is focused on getting back to the basics of Math and Reading. Statewide Math assessment scores show 36.5% proficiency in the 2021-2022 school year. Montana must do better. The Superintendent is working to review the state content standards for Math and is requesting that these standards be opened for revision. State content standards for Math haven’t been revised in over a decade. Revising our Math content standards and creating Math Innovation Zones while growing Montana’s professional development for Math will help grow the confidence of both our students and teachers. Montana has 11 teaching and learning standards. Superintendent Arntzen has revised five of these standards:

• Social Studies
• Career and Technical Education
• Library Media
• Computer Science
• Technology Integration

For more information, please contact Chris Noel, Teaching and Learning Senior Manager, at chris.noel@mt.gov, or (406) 444-2765.

After more than 30 years Montana's School Accreditation standards are changing to prioritize student learning. During the September 15, 2022 Board of Public Education meeting the board finalized the timeline for Chapter 55, which included opening the recommended changes for public comment. The Montana Administrative Procedure Act (MAPA) process for public comment will open on October 7, 2022, and will close on November 4, 2022.

For those on the Education Interim Budget Committee, please view the documents as the Economic Impact Statement will be reviewed during your December 7, 2022 meeting.

To view a five-page summary of the rule changes, please click here.

 Board of Public Education Timeline on Proposed Chapter 55 Rules:

• Proposal notice to SOS for publication in MAR September 27, 2022
• MAR publication of proposal notice October 7, 2022
• Public hearing date October 31, 2022
• Final public comment deadline November 4, 2022
• Draft Notice and Economic Impact Statement to Interim Committee Before Nov. 7, 2022
• Adoption notice to BPE for consideration/respond to comments Nov 17-18, 2022
• Interim Committee Meeting December 7, 2022
• BPE authorization to publish adoption notice, including comments and responses January 12-13, 2023
• Adoption notice to SOS for publication in MAR January, TBD 2023
• MAR publication of adoption notice January, TBD 2023
• Effective date of rules July 2023

*Written public comment can be sent to bpe@mt.gov.

For more information, please contact Dr. Julie Murgel, Chief Operating Officer at julie.murgel@mt.gov or (406) 444-3172.

In full transparency, OPI has provided a monthly report highlighting state and district allocations, expenditures, and balances for ESSER I, II, and III funds. These are Covid relief dollars from HB 630. To view the monthly school district allocation report, please click here.

The Montana Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3) and the Montana Office of Public Instruction are accepting applications and nominations for Montana’s Purple Star Schools and Purple Star Champions Awards.

The Purple Star Awards recognize Montana schools and individual champions committed to supporting military-connected children and their families. MIC3 and OPI are opening the application process for the third annual award season to designate Montana Purple Star Schools. This is the second school year Montana’s MIC3 will be accepting nominations for the Purple Star Champions Award.

Nominations for both awards will be accepted from September 15, 2022, to November 30, 2022. The awardee will be announced in December 2022. Please visit here to consider nominating any schools or champions for a Purple Star Award.

For more information, please contact Brian O’Leary, Communications Director, at brian.o’leary@mt.gov or (406) 444-3559.