|
The OPI is providing this newsletter every month for an update on current events and ongoing education-related issues in Montana. The next Navigator will be sent to you in
September 2023.
For previous editions of the Navigator click here.
Superintendent's Message:
School doors are almost open and the Office of Public Instruction is busy innovating for a productive school year.
Legislative Updates
 The Gavel provides updates on implementation of new laws, in-depth research, links to interesting topics, and timely items about the Legislature.
Calendar Updates
August Committee meetings:
August 1, 2023, Energy and Telecommunications Recording
August 1, 2023, Financial Modernization and Risk Analysis Recording
August 2, 2023, Special Select Comm. on Energy Resource Recording
Upcoming September meetings:
September 1, 2023 Labor Day
September 6,2023, Broadband IIJA Communications Advisory Commission
September 7, 2023, Local Government
September 8, 2023, HB 872 Commission
September 12, 2023, Children, Families, Health and Human Services
September 13, 2023, Transportation Committee
September 13, 2023, Interim Budget Subcommittee Section A (General Government)
September 13, 2023, Interim Budget Subcommittee Section B (Health and Human Services)
September 13, 2023, Interim Budget Subcommittee Section C (Natural Resources)
September 13, 2023, Interim Budget Subcommittee Section D (Public Safety)
September 13, 2023, Interim Budget Subcommittee Section E (Education)
September 13, 2023, Interim Budget Subcommittee Section F (Long Range Planning)
September 14, 2023, Legislative Finance Committee (A)
September 18, 2023 Revenue Interim Committee
September 19, 2023, Revenue Interim Committee
September 26, 2023, Economic Affairs Committee
Parent Discussions
All discussions will take place from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM via Zoom and will be moderated by the Office of Public Instruction’s Chief Legal Counsel. Join Meeting here.
The upcoming discussions times and topics are:
-
June 21, 2023 - Comparing Charter School Bills: Public Charter Schools (HB 549) and Community Choice Schools (HB 562)
Recording | Meeting Agenda | Comparison of Charter School Bills
-
July 26, 2023 - Discussing Obscenity (HB 234), Notification Requirements (HB 744), and Religious Freedom (HB 745)
Recording | Meeting Agenda | Legislation Summary
-
August 23, 2023 - Special Needs Equal Opportunity Act (HB 393)
Meeting Agenda
-
September 20, 2023 - Parental Rights (HB 676 and SB 518)
Meeting Agenda
State Tribal Relations Committee July 19, 2023
Brenton Craggs, part of our Legal Team, attended the State Tribal Relations Committee to give an update on the new proposed rules for the Montana Indian Language Preservation (MILP) Program, HB 287, and Indian Education for All, HB 338 both sponsored by Representative Jonathan Windy Boy.
The Office of Public Instruction’s rule making implementing the requirements of HB 287 has been published to the Secretary of State’s Montana Administrative Register (MAR). The publishing is listed here: Montana Administrative Register - Montana Secretary of State - Christi Jacobsen (sosmt.gov) The MAR where our notice of public hearing on proposed adoption is located here: admin-ajax.php (sosmt.gov)
Here is the remaining timeline for the rule making.
August 11, Public hearing on proposed rules
August 18, Close of public comment period
September 12, Filing date for publication
September 22, Final publication day for adopting rules before the guidelines must be in place
September 29, Last business day before the guidelines must be in place
October 1, Guidelines for applications must be in place/deadline for the start of soliciting applications
DNRC Interactive Fire Map
Click on the map for current DNRC Interactive Fire Map
Join us in Celebrating
Montana Math Standards Revision Taskforce
The Superintendent welcomed the Math Standards Review Taskforce. The purpose of this Math Taskforce is to create Math Standards that will strengthen both teacher confidence and student success. Thank you to Marie Judisch, Teaching and Learning Senior Manager, for organizing this great work!. To see the Montana Math Standards Revision Task Force click here.
For more information, please reach out to Marie Judisch, Teaching and Learning Senior Manager, 406-444-5883
Apply to be a part of the Standards Revision Negotiated Rulemaking Committees
The Superintendent is seeking applications from interested parties to serve on the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (NRC), one of three committees for English Learners, World Languages and Mathematics. Qualifying individuals are likely to be significantly affected by the proposed rule amendment, including individuals from the following groups:
- School District Trustees
- K-12 Administrators
- K-12 Teachers
- Higher Education Faculty
- School Business Officials
- Parents
- Taxpayers
Members of the NRCs will be selected based on the following criteria:
- Cultural Diversity
- Geography/Location
- Relevant Content Experience
- District and School Size
- Grade Levels Served
The NRCs will meet multiple times between:
- July and August 2023 – English Language Learners
- September and December 2023 – Math
- September and December 2023 – World Languages
Applications for all three NRCs can be found here
For more information, please reach out to Marie Judisch, Teaching and Learning Senior Manager, 406-444-5883
2023 Girls State
 It is always an honor to speak with the delegates at Girls State. These young women were very interested in how teaching, learning, and testing can be made better for future generations. Thank you to Fort Harrison for hosting this great event!
OPI Montana Ready and Dick Anderson Construction working together
 The OPI Career Coaches, the Department of Labor, and Dick Anderson Construction met in Bozeman for a partnership revolving around workforce readiness. More to come on Career Coaches that are deployed in 9 regions around Montana. For contact information, please reach out to Mary Heller, Montana Ready Coordinator, 406-399-0640
Rocky Vista Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
 A big shout out to Rocky Vista for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Montana's first College of Osteopathic Medicine in Billings. Building great partnerships between our schools puts Montana students on a healthy path to success!
Melody Weathermon, Author and Rural Educator
Melody Weathermon, an author and rural educator for over 2 decades at Frontier school in rural Montana.
Working Session for School Clerks and Leaders
It is my pleasure to let some light shine on a working session for school clerks and leaders to process ESSER Federal Covid Dollars and federal Title funds for their school districts in Missoula and Kalispell.
Kalispell interim Supt Randy Cline
Enjoyed a conversation with Kalispell interim Supt Randy Cline on personalized learning success with a focus on Career education.
OPI VIRTUAL JOB FAIR
When: AUGUST 4, 2023 7:00 A.M. – 11:00 A.M. MST
Candidates
Are you looking for employment in Montana’s schools? This is a free event you want to attend. This free virtual job fair will connect you with Montana school leaders, where there are over 400 public school districts from the one-room schoolhouse to our largest community of Billings that serves over 18,000 students. You will be able to search for available positions, participate in a live networking session where you'll meet many district decision-makers. Private interviews will be offered. Register as a job seeker for free. Have a link to your resume or portfolio ready when you register.
Schools and Districts
The OPI Education Virtual Job Fair features an expo center where you create a booth to promote your district and the employment opportunities you offer. Candidates will learn more about your district and community from the information you upload to your booth. Candidates will be able to chat with you and send you messages from which you can schedule private interviews. Each candidate will provide a secure link with information about themselves. On Saturday morning, a networking session is provided to randomly pair candidates with districts.
Register today for our OPI Educational Virtual Job Fair that brings candidates to help solve your recruitment challenges.
Virtual Job Fairs have been sponsored by the OPI since the summer of 2020.
- LAST JOB FAIR: 201 CANDIDATES
- 19 DISTRICTS PRESENT
Click here for to sign up
Chapter 55: School Accreditation
A Stakeholder Review committee comprised of school and community leaders will convene to discuss the new 4-point system to ensure that Montana schools can understand the new system.
The 4-point includes:
- Family and Community Engagement
- Professional Development
- Academic Programming including how the education program enables students to recognize the district and unique cultural heritages of American Indians
- Assurance checklist for required accreditation policies
The Stakeholder Review will meet 11 times between August 2023 and March 2024 via Zoom:
- August 9, 10, and 15, 2023
- September 11 and 18, 2023
- October 16, 2023
- November 20, 2023
- January 8, 2024
- February 12, 2024
- March 11, 2024
OPI will offer multiple work sessions offered to parents, teachers, and school leaders:
- August 14, 2023 via Zoom
- September 28 and 29, 2023 at Lockwood High School
- October 18-20, 2023 during the Montana Conference of Education Leadership (MCEL) Conference in Helena
- November, TBD at Montana Tech in Butte
- January 25 and 26, 2024 at the Great Falls Public Schools Office
- February 20-22, 2024 via Zoom
- March 1 and 5-7 via Zoom
More details on the work sessions are available here.
For more information, please contact Crystal Andrews, Accreditation and Licensure Manager, at crystal.andrews@mt.gov.
|
Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Funds - ESSER
Looking Ahead:
Affordable Connectivity Program offers qualifying families $30-$75 per month for internet services. Broadband project and funding reports include Digital Opportunity Plan and Broadband 5 Year Action Plan. Contact Allison Agostino (406 202-7685) for details. The States Digital Opportunity Plan is open for public comment through July 31st. Please send all comments to Connectmt@mt.gov
-
No cash requests or Final Expenditure Reports (FERs) will be processed in July. Submissions in July will be processed in August. Please review training on Final Expenditure Reports and guidance on ESSER II Close-Out for more information.
ESSER II critical dates:
E-Grants Budget and Cash Request Descriptions must be reviewed to ensure there is adequate detail provided. If you have questions, contact one of the ESSER team members.
Office Hours and System of Support. The ESSER Team is available through extended-hour coverage between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Feel free to reach out with your questions to any ESSER Team Member by phone or email.
OPI Review Process: OPI is assisting LEAs in mitigating risks to avoid audit findings by reviewing requests for funding and providing assistance with compliance. From June through August, we will be contacting schools to conduct monitoring assessments and helping to strengthen ESSER documentation. Contact Wendi Fawns, ESSER Director for assistance (wendi.fawns@mt.gov)
As a reminder, ESSER II must be expended by September 30, 2023, and ESSER III must be expended by September 30, 2024.
The state-wide ESSER allocation through May 31, 2023, is:
|
 For more information on ESSER please click here or contact Wendi Fawns at wendi.fawns@mt.gov.
Montana Alternative Student Testing (MAST) Pilot Program
|
As we move into year 2 of MAST pilot, there are 20,333 Students with 56 districts and 127 schools recognized with this opportunity to link teaching and learning. Thank you for saying "yes"!
Students in Reading/ELA and Math:
3rd Grade: 3,462
4th Grade: 3,482
5th Grade: 3,844
6th Grade: 3,184
7th Grade: 3,282
8th Grade: 3,079
We are still waiting for the Department of Education to grant the waiver to remove the summative test at the end of the year for these participants for this year. Our OPI team is strongly asking them to say "yes"!
For more information, please contact Krystal Smith at Krystal.Smith@mt.gov.
|
July August 2023 Press Releases
New School Accreditation Rules Take Effect
Superintendent Arntzen Announces Wide-Spread Support for Montana’s Field Testing Flexibility Waiver
Superintendent Arntzen Announces New K-12 Data Trask Force Members
Superintendent Arntzen Awards Stronger Connection Grant
Superintendent Arntzen Submits Montana Indian Language Preservation Rules to Montana Secretary of State
Superintendent Arntzen Offers Update on Yellowstone Bridge Collapse
Superintendent Arntzen Hosts Work Session on New School Accreditation Process
Superintendent Arntzen Opens Three-Day Meeting of the Math Standards Revision Taskforce
Superintendent Arntzen to Host Second Community Discussion on Education Legislation
Superintendent Arntzen strengthens partnership with the Montana Empowerment Center through Public Service Announcement
Superintendent Elsie Arntzen announces the annual opening of the OPI system for school district fiscal data reporting to begin the budgeting process for the 2023-2024 school year.
Superintendent Arntzen's response to the interpretation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA)
Superintendent Elsie Arntzen to Host the 2023 Summer Virtual Teacher Job Fair
For more information, please contact Brian O’Leary, Communications Director at Brian.O’Leary@mt.gov 406-444-355 Dustin Scott, Interim Communications, (406) 444-3559
 |
|
Questions? Contact:
Tara Boulanger, Legislative Liaison, (406) 444-2082
Please visit out website for additional information and updates opi.mt.gov
|
Brian O'Leary, Communications Director, (406) 444-3559
Dustin Scott, Interim Communications, (406) 444-3559
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
|
