Missoula County Public Schools Superintendent Jim Clark brings basic education discussion to City Club Missoula

As Montana prepares to redefine its idea of “basic quality education,” it might consider shrinking the number of districts statewide, Missoula County Public Schools Superintendent Jim Clark said Friday.

By Rob Chaney of the Missoulian

There are about 450 school districts serving, 1,480,000 children in Montana, Clark told the Missoula City Club. That compares to just 48 districts and 84,000 students in Wyoming, where he spent much of his earlier career. North Dakota has 210 districts for 99,000 students, while Colorado spreads 757,000 children across 65 districts.

“From an efficiency standpoint, it’s all over the board,” Clark said.

Montana has a strong tradition of local control, but that can get in its own way, he added.

An interim legislative committee is working on a new way of defining and paying for quality education for all Montana students this summer and fall. Clark said because the committee has no school administrators or teachers on board, it is important for community members to make their feelings known before the draft plan goes to a special legislative session next winter.

“I’m concerned the bar for quality education could be set very low,” Clark said. That could hurt communities like Missoula that historically have supported expansive program offerings.

Don’t wait until December to let them know what you think,” he added.

Clark said he doesn’t anticipate closing any more elementary schools in Missoula over the next decade, although Lowell Elementary is operating at about half its 400-student capacity. The bigger challenge could be the decline of 500 to 700 high school students in those same years.

“That’s a scary thought,” Clark told the City Club. “At a certain point, we could house all our kids in two schools. We have to face that.”

Some in the audience wondered if MCPS was losing children to private and home schools. Clark responded that private schools appeared to be losing students at nearly the same rate as the community at large, while home-school families were generally not inclined to attend either private or public institutions.

Another issue was what sort of concrete actions the community could take to confront growing alcohol and drug use in schools. Clark said Montana has a culture of tolerance and acceptance of substance use that children take advantage of.

“In Montana, it’s legal to serve alcohol to kids at home,” Clark said. “That may be fine for your child, but what about the other 11 at the party?”

One thing MCPS is doing now involves a change in the high school code of conduct which governs student substance abuse. The revised code would add more prevention and intervention options to the traditional list of punishments for rule-breaking. But it works mainly through student activities – both as a way of encouraging good behavior and punishing transgressions.

“We don’t have much of a hook on kids who aren’t in activities,” Clark said. “Parents need to make sure their kids are involved in group activities, and that they know you care enough to say ‘No.’”

Join City Club Missoula

City Club Missoula usually meets on the last Friday of the month for lunch and discussion of important issues to the Missoula community.

Next meetings:

City Club Missoula- The Impacts And Effects Of The Legislative Session, 6/15, Missoula: http://www.matr.net/article-14803.html

City Club Missoula – John Wall Of Palmerston North, New Zealand Sister City Committee, 6/24, Missoula: http://www.matr.net/article-14708.html

Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at [email protected]