Board rejects Hellgate teacher's grievance over media-arts curriculum; trustees call for policy review

The Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees rejected a grievance filed under Policy 2120 by Hellgate High School teacher Beth Cole, who argued the district bypassed a teacher-led curriculum review and eliminated AV/media-arts pathway courses that she said had student demand and Perkins grant implications.

Beth Cole told trustees she has taught media arts for 20 years and included enrollment figures, student testimonials and policy references in a packet she provided. Cole argued the district'prepared board packet contained factual errors and characterizations that she said were unjust, and she urged the board to preserve the media-arts pathway given local industry developments. She said the AV pathway generated student requests and supported Perkins grant funding; she criticized the administration'led process that created a new Social Media Production course and said teachers had been insufficiently involved.

Administration representatives (Mrs. Caliva and Ms. Shattuck) replied that department chairs and staff were consulted, cited enrollment data showing low enrollments in some media courses in prior semesters and described the new Social Media Design and Production pilot as responsive to student interest (administration cited three sections and roughly 120 student requests for the new work in planning). They also said OPI advised waiting for updated CTE pathway guidance before a full curriculum audit and that the pilot authority is permitted under Policy 2311.

Trustees debated whether the situation reflected a policy violation or a philosophical disagreement about program direction and noted the district had not updated several board policies since law changes. Several trustees said materials review every five years is a district (not board) responsibility and that pilot-course provisions allow the superintendent to introduce one-year pilots before full board adoption. Trustee Mercer said he did not believe the complaint met the narrow technical threshold for a grievable policy violation but acknowledged the policy and practice issues raised merited review.

Trustee Wake moved to reject the grievance; Trustee Mercer seconded. After additional remarks about the need to update policy language and to ensure teacher involvement going forward, trustees voted unanimously to reject the grievance. Chair Old Person thanked Cole for bringing the matter forward and acknowledged the board would consider policy clarifications.

The board'level action was a finding on the technical merits of the grievance; trustees simultaneously signaled interest in revising and clarifying curriculum-review and course-adoption practices going forward.