This story is excerpted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday.
As of Aug. 1, the Office of Public Instruction’s employment portal listed 853 active job postings for licensed public school positions in Montana. The postings include openings for teachers, counselors, administrators and paraprofessionals in school districts across Montana, and may capture some redundant listings or positions that have recently been filled.
With the start of the 2024-25 school year approaching, Montana schools of all sizes are once again contending with the state’s ongoing teacher shortage. Challenges finding qualified applicants to fill open positions have prompted many districts in recent years to rely on provisional licensing and on emergency authorizations — essentially a green-light from the state to hire an individual who does not fully meet the requirements for a licensed teacher. OPI issued 176 emergency employment authorizations last year.
Education leaders are also increasingly focusing on retention. In a bid to help prepare new hires for the rigors of a public school classroom, the Alliance for Curriculum Enhancement, which provides curricula and support services for many rural schools, is hosting an inaugural “boot camp” this week at Lockwood High School outside Billings for roughly 125 early career teachers. Executive Director Jenny Combs told Montana Free Press the training is designed to help starting teachers, particularly those working under emergency authorizations, develop the rules and skills necessary to work with students and school administrators. The organization is also launching a mentoring program this fall in partnership with researchers at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
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Brereton to leave helm of Montana state health department
After four years helming the state’s largest agency, Charlie Brereton is leaving the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services for a job in the private sector, the governor’s office has announced. He will be replaced by Dr. Doug Harrington, the department’s state medical officer. Brereton’s last day is Oct. 30.
On the Record: Billings Police Chief Rich St. John says goodbye after 45 years of law enforcement
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Bears are ‘spinning out’ in southern Montana. Wildlife managers are at their wit’s end.
Amid a record-breaking year of Western bear-human conflict, the historically tolerant Red Lodge community is grappling with conflicting views on how to live with the species — and whether a ‘fed bear’ really should be a ‘dead bear.’
