Wolf Point School Faces Challenges To Obtain Teachers

The Wolf Point School District might have more obstacles to deal with regarding being fully staffed in the future due to additional regulations.

Wolf Point Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Perkins said that the Montana Office of Public Instruction is becoming more unfriendly regarding Emergency Authorization of Employment instructors.

Perkins said when he arrived in Wolf Point a few years ago, the school district featured about 20 EAE instructors. Now, the school district has about seven such instructors.

A district may request from the superintendent of public instruction an emergency authorization of employment for a person who is not the holder of a valid Montana teacher or specialist certificate and a required endorsement as an instructor of pupils when the district cannot secure the services of a person holding a valid Montana certificate and a required endorsement.

“How many have become good teachers? Quite a few,” Perkins said of the program. “We’ve brought teachers to the community.”

Through the program, a EAE instructor must earn their teaching degree in three or four years.

Perkins said changes with OPI is making it so that one of the lone benefits is receiving funds for quality educators.

“They give you something that’s helpful and then take it away,” Perkins said.

Having foreign teachers has also been beneficial for the Wolf Point School District during the last several years.

With the H1-B Visa, teachers can stay and aren’t required to return to their native country in a few years. Wolf Point has a couple of teachers through that Visa. Perkins said obtaining a teacher through the program costs the school district about $4,000.

The J-1 Visa is considered a cultural exchange, so a teacher must return to their native country after a few years.