Lincoln School board approves contract for new superintendent

The Lincoln School Board brought their search for a new superintendent to a close at their meeting Monday night with the approval of a contract for Jennifer Packer, who will take over the position from Carla Anderson July 1.

Anderson, who has held the job since 2015, announced her decision to step down from the position in December, citing health concerns.

The school board, working with the Montana School Board Association began their search in January and chose Packer from among five final applicants they interviewed during a day-long session March 1.

"We spent from 9 o'clock to 9 o'clock. It was almost a full 12 hours to interview them," School Board President Aaron Birkholz said. "They were hour-long interviews and we had a break in between. We did the last interview at 5:30, then we started going through them at 7 p.m. By 9 we had a candidate."

Birkholz said all the applicants were well qualified, but four of the five board members ultimately settled on the same two finalists: Packer and Brad Moore of Havre.

"We just talked and talked and talked and got some input from the public that I think was a deciding factor," he said. Packer got the nod in a split 3-2 vote.

Although Moore has experience as a school superintendent, Birkholz said he felt Packer seemed like a better fit and that the administrative duties of her current position, where she oversees a sizable staff, more than makes up for not having the superintendent endorsement already.

"Just because you don't have the 'superintendent' under your name doesn't mean you're not qualified," he said. Nevertheless, the contract does include the stipulation that she earn her superintendent endorsement within two years.

Packer will be coming to Lincoln from C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls, where she currently serves as the associate coordinator for special education and Birkholz hopes Packer will bring a different perspective to the Lincoln school system.

"There's nothing broken in the school," he said. "We're always looking for that new face, bringing in new ideas, and I think that will be great."

Nevertheless, Packer isn't entirely new to Lincoln. Some locals who may remember her as Jennifer Burns when she worked at Lincoln Schools as the special education teacher from 1995 to 2001. She said this opportunity to return to Lincoln seemed like it was meant to be.

"I had maintained my house up there, knowing that eventually I wanted to retire up there. I love the community and the people, and even though I still have years left to work, that is one place I wanted to end up," she said. "It seemed like a perfect opportunity at this point because my kids (and) my grandkids moved from Great Falls to Missoula. It gets me closer to them as well."

Packer also sees Lincoln Schools as a place where she can make a difference. She explained that in a school system as huge at the one in Great Falls it can sometimes be hard to get things moving in a positive direction.

"I'm anxious to work with people in the (Lincoln) school system. I think it's a great school system already, but all school systems have changes every year and improvements that need to be made, and I'd just like to be a part of that," she said

Packer does see some specific areas here she would like to work on.

"I would like to work on the test scores, in the area of math especially. I think that needs to improve," she said.

Math scores have been a thorny issue for the school. At the end of the 2017-18 school year, falling math scores contributed to a change in the middle school's accreditation status, which in turn prompted the school to scrap the Every Day Math curriculum – which is the system often cited in criticisms of Common Core - in favor of Ready Math, a Common Core–aligned math curriculum for kindergarten through 8th grade considered more practical.

"Lincoln is pretty high up there in the quality of the school systems in Montana, but I would like to make it go even higher," Packer said. "Part of that is having the test scores and the graduation rates, (and) the attitudes and the feelings of the teachers, the satisfaction they have. All that, I'd like to work on."

For Birkholz, Packer's experience with special education and her aptitude for data seem like benefits for Lincoln Schools, which has additional reporting requirements and data analysis related to the Montana Comprehensive Literacy Project Grant the school received last year, as well as a relatively high rate of special education participation.

"Almost her whole career is special education. That's huge in schools these days," he said.

According to the Montana Office of Public Instruction statistics, 18 percent of Lincoln School students during the 2016-17 school year participated in special education at some level.

"I'm kind of excited to get in there. I know it's a high population for the number of students, so it is an area of interest," Packer said.

Packer's first task in her new role will be as part of the hiring committee for the combined teacher/principal position the School board authorized in January.

Anderson, who has been gathering applications for the position, said there are eight applicants for the job. The school board approved creation of a hiring committee that will include Packer and two board members. Anderson sent the list of applicants to the school board Tuesday, but is not going to be involved in the hiring process.

Packer said being part of the hiring committee is a wonderful opportunity. "It's nice to be able to get someone you can work with, to get something done," she said.

Although she officially takes the reins July 1, Anderson said Packer will begin working with her on the transition in mid-June.

I'm very excited to get back within the community and be a part of it," Packer said. "I have an open door. I love to hear from people. I'm a team type of player. I'm not going to do it all by myself."v