by Sarah Glass
John “Scott” Stiegler started as Victor School District’s new superintendent at an interesting time in Montana’s public education story. His first day on the job was July 1st of this year, the same day that new Montana legislation essentially came into effect. The day marks the beginning of Open Enrollment (HB 203) as well as the opening of newly established charter schools across the state (HB549).
In an interview with the Bitterroot Star, Stiegler went into depth as to why the effects of the new legislation will be of careful consideration to the Victor School District. No stranger to the responsibilities of Montana educators and education administrators, Stiegler grew up in Frenchtown and attended the University of Montana. He went on to teach in Florence for 17 years. He has worked in school administration for the last seven years, including three years as superintendent and principal at Lone Rock. Before taking a position with the Victor School District, Stiegler worked in Moore, near Lewiston, Montana. He commuted between the school and his home in Ravalli County, a distance of nearly 600 miles a week. “But home was calling,” said Stiegler, “and this is where I landed.”
From Stiegler’s description of Montana HB203, the bill that made it possible for children residing in one school district to attend another at the cost of the home district, there is an anticipation of heightened competition between school districts. Larger schools have more extra-curricular activities and electives to offer students, the superintendent admitted candidly. If Victor School District loses more students to other districts than it attracts, said Steigler, he fears the local tax base will be left to manage the additional financial obligation. Currently, Victor’s enrollment is about 255, according to Stiegler, making it the smallest K-12 school in the Bitterroot Valley.
When asked to share more thoughts about HB203, Stiegler agreed that the new bill may motivate parents to familiarize themselves with school district offerings. Much will remain unknown, however, until the first billing cycle related to HB203 occurs.
“There’s a movie quote that goes back to ‘Field of Dreams’,” said Stiegler. “That quote is ‘If you build it, they will come.’ When you have a positive climate and culture, positive word-of-mouth should get out, and people might be attracted to that. If we offer important services, or if we offer a really good service for students with higher needs, that could attract kids to come here to receive that service.”
Stiegler plans to keep Victor School District on its current positive trajectory and look for grant opportunities to bolster services. Thanks to the implementation of new strategies over recent years and funding received from the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) through its Montana Comprehensive Literacy Development Program (or MCLSDP) grant, Stiegler reports that the district has gone from having a very low ranking in the state to having its elementary in the top 15 percent. “They have made big gains in five years, and our middle school and high school is right behind them,” he said.
As to how the district maneuvered such a success, Stiegler said, “The systems we have in place and the staff have been fantastic. Everyone has a role outside of teaching. They also have all these other roles; we have instructional coaches, and we have our data team. We have a data dashboard for each student. We look at their proficiency scores; we look at their attendance; we look at their behavior. It’s kind of an all-inclusive data dashboard that we are using. All those systems are helping us move in the direction that we need to move toward.”
Victor School District now also provides an early literacy intervention program to assist children in achieving kindergarten readiness.
“Instead of a preschool,” said Stiegler, “it’s an early literacy intervention program that the state has provided through legislation.”
Regarding HB549 and the establishment of new charter schools, Stiegler believes that many school districts are entertaining the idea. Whether Victor School District will develop a charter school program, Stiegler said, “I don’t know if that is a direction we will choose to go or not, but it’s worth talking about to see if it’s a good fit.”
Several school districts in Ravalli County already have new charter schools up and running; Hamilton School District has opened the Bitterroot Polytechnic program, and the Corvallis School District now offers instruction through its Corvallis Rise Charter Academy. These charter schools are characterized by their hands-on and work-based learning opportunities, things the Victor School District is also looking to provide its student base.
“We’re trying to raise the bar in accountability so we can set a high bar of excellence for ourselves,” said Stiegler. “Our goal is to have students prepared once they leave Victor School, and we want them to be prepared to either go into the workforce, to college, or to a trade or apprenticeship program… That should always be our goal. We’re looking for new ways to make that a better system for our students.”.
The State of Montana, through its Montana Career Pathways (MCP) program, supports career exploration at the high school level. The program recognizes 16 career pathways, including education, finance, healthcare, information technology, science, agriculture, and welding and fabrication. Victor School District offers several classes related to these pathways.
“We have some students working toward becoming CNAs [Certified Nurse Assistants] in the healthcare pathway,” said Stiegler. “The exciting thing is we can have a student who might be a junior in high school and have them get their CNA before their senior year of high school. We have students right now working through that. We have some classes in the healthcare pathway that take frequent field trips to Bitterroot Health so that they can conduct a few things on-site…
“We need business partners to further those programs and get kids into the field and get their hands dirty, get them into an authentic experience. Those authentic experiences are really what’s going to make it for that child.”
If a business related to one of the MCP program pathways is interested in providing learning opportunities to local area high schoolers, Stiegler encourages them to contact the district.