for her to help with the accounting demands of MT AHEC/ORH. Jenna studied Law at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Mountain View Elementary ; Phone: (406)446-1804 Fax: (406)446-0115 . And as a result, the kids are going to go without a computer that they might have had available to them, or without a quality teacher that could have otherwise instructed and helped that school district meet the needs of kids.. his bachelor of science in cell biology and neuroscience and later graduated with Tara began working for the Montana State Auditor's office where she worked for both the Rosendale and Downing Administrations as the Continuing Education Specialist. OPI has extended employment offers to candidates for five of those positions, Allen said, and four have accepted. The Montana Democratic Party submitted a request for public records related to staff turnover in May and, according to MDP Executive Director Sandi Luckey, was assessed a fee of $10,000. A meeting between Montana's eight AA school superintendents and the Office of Public Instruction scheduled for Friday afternoon was postponed. Families are the foundation of learning as our parents are our first teachers. Two of those employees cited Arntzens management style as a primary reason for accelerating their retirement plans. 2 0 obj 2021-2022 Summative Assessment Scores 2023 Teacher of the Year OPI Organizational Chart with public health practice. With the change of administration in January 2017, Muir said, she quickly grew to feel that her work was under a microscope, adding that even employee workstations were critiqued by new leadership. Unbiased, unflinching journalism is critical to our democracy. Project Coordinatorgracebehrens@montana.edu406-994-6043Room 305 Culbertson Hall. Manager and Data Analyst at New Mexico Donor Services, the organ procurement organization Muir began working at OPI in 2012 under then-Superintendent Denise Juneau. process improvement specialist on Behavioral Health Workforce initiatives and the Community Health Services Development (CHSD) project. Contact Rob, 406-444-4399. I realized my input was not wanted or appreciated or even going to be solicited at all, no matter what the topic, Granberry said. Find key state employees in these agency listings by clicking on the agency name that the employee works for. Beth Ann is the Assistant Director of Behavioral Health Programs. Montana State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business, Accounting Asked by Board Chair Tammy Lacey about the status of the roughly nine other vacancies listed in the report, Allen said some of those positions have been shifted or modified within the agency, requiring updates to their job descriptions prior to announcing them as open. Former OPI staffers and leaders of Montana education associations told MTFP the result has been a significant loss of operational knowledge at the agency charged with overseeing public education across the state. Unbiased, unflinching journalism is critical to our democracy. Parman, who planned to present the same comment to the Legislatures Interim Education Committee Thursday, concluded his statements by recognizing the dedication of remaining OPI employees who have continued to help school officials and educators. Arntzen also said shes combined the school accreditation reporting process with the federally mandated reporting process for COVID-19 relief spending, and reorganized OPI to bring supervisors into more of a leadership role under the mentorship of agency managers including Allen and herself. ? Using his decades of industry expertise, he advises Superintendent Arntzen in her capacity as Vice-Chair of the Montana Board of Land Commissioners. of Public Health and Environment. 7 0 obj Assistant Director/Behavioral Health Workforce beth.carter@montana.edu(406) 925-1261. No shouting. They are afraid to even talk about it if theyre still there for fear of retaliation, Curtis said. vN_HF"{ueE$gYU)VUiTf9BJXz[6V,h#[pygl)3,AZ(i)snFLCf(.~)[fitYZJ:@R"$)1aeGmGm`ctk`uu .=R'p)=Z`d8E\(b)z_Vg?Eur!H?CBYzKW{U*UaT*K{ ] i &?G(`nT,06P! J>sF%a}=TybR}-s71O]6iF59 HM'{$/1A|+[O3\w@E\+bDo>{8(LV]Uf1oX5Lm(D)=^f+mUvK280j]V*q\\qs0IcG}d>CXNFFW)C%cP,C(!KTFh"{[/o'B1x0~P4nVK,Jvv [wWtx9~zN^;~x|":{vd"\IBLSnV8#o-'+'1OFh]I But, you know, were all getting older and I think that thats a piece of it there are definitely some retirements there as well.. Our most precious resources, our children have been left behind. In her free time, you can find Tara hiking the trails with her Mini Aussie (Scooby doo) and puppy (Wheeler), working out in the gym, or riding horses down the rodeo road. For questions or comments contact the Ask Us Desk. Never miss Montanas biggest stories and breaking news. She looks forward to continuing to serve Montanas children and families at OPI. Previously, Cindra was Hospital Services MSU starting in 1991 in the accounting office of the MSU Bookstore. He completed All of this stuff is highly detailed, Quinlan said. The same goes for any other spending decisions a school may have to make, he added. Granberry, who had planned to remain with the agency for a few more years, retired in July 2017. She enjoys travelling the Lacey has been on the board for roughly 10 years. Authorized Representatives; Central Office Staff by County; Central Office Staff by System; County Staff; . of projects related to healthcare workforce training in rural and underserved communities In her free The upgrade is being funded with $13.4 million in federal COVID-19 relief dollars. HELENA As required by the Biden Administrations U.S. Department of Education (USED), the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) yesterday submitted its State Plan outlining how it will assist Montana schools in distributing and utilizing more than $382 million in COVID-19 relief funding from the American Recuse Plan (ARP) Act. The OPI also released a new Frequently Asked Questions document for schools as they navigate the process of deploying the new funding. Natalie currently serves asPresident for the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH), The Montana Board of Public Education (BPE) at their Nov. 17 meeting rejected a proposal by the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) to strike student-to-staff ratios for counselors, librarians and . When you donate to Montana Free Press, you are helping build a newsroom that serves the people of Montana, not advertisers or special interests. Department of Labor Contact information; Walt Sullivan Building 1315 Lockey Avenue Helena, MT 59601: INFORMATION DESK: 444-2840: AUTOMATED LISTINGS: 444-3555 Allen told the board the agency has a total of 202 positions, including 154 full-time positions funded by the Legislature through House Bill 2. Through this large influx of Federal funds, Montana schools have an opportunity to focus on the whole child and maximize instruction, State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen said. But we dont need Washington dictating cumbersome terms of use to Montana schools. I trust our school administrators and teachers to use the money wisely to promote innovation in the classroom and enhance learning opportunities for our students. Our plan allows them to do just that, without sacrificing an ounce of accountability. OPI staff have worked diligently to ensure that the Montana State Plan they compiled recognizes local control, removes obstacles and barriers for schools, and enhances accountability without being overly burdensome. The State Plan template provided by USED was overly top-down and not tailored to the local control needs of Montana schools. MPEC has done its part, he said, and polling conducted by the organization this year revealed strong support for public education among Montana voters, with more than 50% of respondents saying they trust classroom teachers and local school boards most regarding whats best for students academically. In his free time, Brian enjoys spending time with his wife, riding horses, and attempting to golf. Support news by Montanans for Montanans. Melton and Miller both said anecdotally that the level of turnover indicated in the termination report is higher than anything theyve seen at OPI under previous administrations. Sydney is a Bozeman, Montana native and MSU alumna. [When] I leave this agency, I want it to be better than what it was when I walked in, Arntzen said. In 2020, Sara completed her Master of Public Health (MPH) No name calling. NorthWestern Energy said Monday it will acquire Washington-based utility Avistas ownership stake in the aging Colstrip coal power plant, a move the company said would keep the plant in operation through the end of the decade. MONTANA STATE GOVERNMENT TELEPHONE DIRECTORY. He currently works as a data analyst, researcher, and Some of them have left and are still afraid to talk about it because theyre afraid that the retaliation may follow them to any new job that they might want to get.. Cheryl has many years experience in bookkeeping, and originally started with a Bachelors of Science in Cell Biology & Neuroscience and shortly after earned with her golden retriever, fly fishing, traveling, and spending time at her family Health and Human Performance and a Master of Health Administration. in Political Science and Communication Studies from Carroll in 2016. About a third of the office is currently working from home, she added. Contact the General Information line at 406-444-2511 with any questions. Montana Federation of Public Employees President Amanda Curtis described the continuing months-long vacancy in OPIs director of special education position as worrisome, adding that the special education division is a particularly important place for the agency to be stacked up. She described the loss of longtime OPI staffers as a real drain on the institutional knowledge of the agency., Its really frustrating to call and need a question answered, and to not have anybody in the office who has the information and needs to take the time to look it up or find somebody who knows and get back to you, Curtis said. Michal Gilpin has been with MT AHEC/ORH since July 2011. The self-paced course takes roughly 1.5 - 2 hours to complete and is worth 1 OPI renewal unit. Your membership makes this and all our other local reporting possible. projects, which include the Montana Behavioral Health Workforce Network, the Montana 2023 Montana's independent nonprofit news source. k " camping, and spending quality time with friends & family. OPI State Assessment Director Ashley McGrath also briefed the board Wednesday on the results of statewide standardized testing conducted in K-12 schools this year. Montana Office of Public Instruction (Montana OPI) phone number is 406-444-2082, located at P.O. TTY number is 406-444-1421. Whoops! Arntzen said she is taking steps to recruit new employees to vacant positions and retain existing employees, including a 50-cent-per-hour raise in January 2020 and continuing to allow staff to work remotely. Earlier this spring, Superintendent Arntzen submitted comments on USEDs Interim Final Requirements, which lay out the agencys implementation strategy for the relevant sections of the ARP Act that appropriated funding to our nations schools. Arntzens comments were the only from any state educational agency nationwide that proposed solutions to fix the challenges embedded in the Interim Final Requirements. If those issues remain uncorrected in the final rule, Arntzen will pursue a variety of waivers to help minimize the burden on our local educational agencies (LEA). These LEAs are required to produce two Federally mandated plans related to how they will spend their allocated dollars, and how they plan to bring students back to the classroom safely. However, the Federal rule does not mandate that an LEA adopt the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidance, but only requires that the LEA describe in its plan the extent to which it has adopted the key prevention and mitigation strategies identified in the guidance. Many schools in Montana were open throughout all or much of the 2020-2021 school year, and have already returned students to school safely, Arntzen noted. They should be afforded the opportunity to focus on other matters, and have a waiver instated for the requirement to update the plan every six months, with stakeholder input, until September 30, 2023. Montanas State Plan received support from U.S.

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