Board Of Public Education Discusses New Teacher Licensing System, Annual Report

[Zaine DyerGuest]

Board Of Public Education Discusses New Teacher Licensing System, Annual Report

On Thursday afternoon, staff from the Office of Public Instruction gave the Montana Board of Public Education an update on the new educator licensing system as well as the annual teacher licensure report.

The licensure office of the OPI has lately been criticized. Superintendents from around the state voiced their dissatisfaction with Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen's leadership in two letters.

OPI's former online licensing system was closed to the public on January 1st, and the new RANDA Solutions system will not be available until June 1st. Educators must either send a paper application to the OPI until May 6 or wait until the new system is deployed during the shutdown.

As they continue to move ahead with data transfer from the old to the new system, a launch meeting with the vendor RANDA Solutions and the OPI is scheduled for this month. The Office of the Public Interest expects the new licensing system to be operational by June 1.