Board selects new principal, chair resigns

SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Elementary School Board unanimously approved the hiring of Aaron Morgenstern of Seeley Lake as the school's new principal and music teacher during their regular meeting Monday, July 12. In addition, they announced the departure of current Board Chair Nathan Richardson, unanimously approved policy updates on second reading and approved the appointment of their new trustee Kitty Logan, a former principal of the school.

Missoula County Superintendent Erin Lipkind recommended hiring Morgenstern for the principal position. Along with serving as principal, he could also teach music. 

Lipkind proposed the idea of Morgenstern teaching music at Sunset School in Greenough and Woodman School in Lolo. If this works out, Morgenstern will likely be gone from Swan Valley Elementary one school day a week while he is teaching at the other two schools.

If combined with teaching music at Swan Valley School and adding music at Sunset School and Woodman School in Lolo, Swan Valley Elementary would pay four-fifths of his salary while Sunset and Woodman would collaboratively pay one-fifth.

Vice Chair Jimmy Boyd said he was concerned about putting too much pressure on Morgenstern by having him work in multiple locations throughout the week.

"I would be conscious about the management of a new employee to make sure that we don't have a burnout type of situation, where they're all of a sudden trying to do too much and then now ... nobody's happy because they're driving all over," he said.

Logan also had concerns about scheduling conflicts especially during the holiday season where multiple programs could take place near each other.

Morgenstern was selected for the position out of the four applicants. He will split his time between the principal and music teacher positions. The board will finalize his contract at their August meeting. Currently his salary will be around $35,000 along with a total of $10,000 in tuition reimbursement over the course of two years for him to get his master's degree in educational leadership.

The Board voted 4-1 to approve their ARP School Plan revision with Boyd dissenting. The revision dealt with updating the plan which covers the school's reopening process during the pandemic. It was approved last August and is required to be revised every six months.

Boyd felt like the school was being forced to comply with state requirements without the ability to dissent.

"This is not what we want, this is what the state is ramrodding down our faces and we have to approve it," he said.

Afterwards Richardson announced that he is moving to Lake County and is retiring from his role as chair. Sara Lamar is expected to take over the open slot. Boyd was considered the original candidate to take over as chair, however he was unsure if he could take over the position due to scheduling conflicts. The Board will select their new chair at the next meeting.

In other business the board approved:

• A series of policy updates on second reading having to deal with student discipline, firearms and weapons, visitor conduct, conduct on school property and personal conduct.

• Their custodial contract with C&K Custodial.

The next board meeting is at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 17 at Swan Valley School.