Fair-Mont-Egan principal opts out of contract

Fair-Mont-Egan School is looking for a new principal.

Former Principal Christine Schmidt-Anthony, who has spent the last school year on sabbatical teaching abroad in an elementary school near her hometown in Germany, did not renew her contract with the school. Schmidt-Anthony had originally planned to return with her family to Montana at the end of July.

During Schmidt-Anthony’s absence, former Olney-Bissell principal Lona Everett stepped out of retirement to serve as interim principal. Everett’s contract ended last month.

Following a board meeting Thursday, the principal position will be advertised in the coming week said school board chairwoman Megan Koppes.

“We’ll be advertising the position after the fourth and it will be open for three weeks,” Koppes said noting that there aren’t concerns that the position will be filled by the start of the 2017-18 school year on Sept. 5. “We have several positions we’re actually filling [now].”

While keeping in touch with the school board according to Koppes, Schmidt-Anthony also provided updates on her time in Germany in the school’s newsletter “What’s Buin.” Schmidt-Anthony wrote that her daughters were attending the same elementary school she had as a child and that she was teaching in a school that had a student population with mostly immigrant or refugee backgrounds.

Schmidt-Anthony has worked at Fair-Mont-Egan for about 17 years according to the school clerk, moving up the ranks from teacher, head teacher to principal. During her tenure, Schmidt-Anthony began the years-long application process for Fair-Mont-Egan to become an International Baccalaureate World School candidate in 2015, which Koppes said is still an ongoing process.

The contract for part-time Superintendent Paul Jenkins also ended in June. Jenkins came out of retirement as Somers-Lakeside School District superintendent to fill the position. The superintendent position was added last winter to meet accreditation standards based on an increase in full-time certified staff. Whether the superintendent position will continue in the 2017-18 school year hasn’t been determined according to Koppes.

Qualified applicants for the principal position may mail resumes and letters of interest to: Fair-Mont-Egan School District, 797 Fairmont Road, Kalispell, MT, 59901.

For more information contact district Clerk Shelley Struck at 406-755-2038 or Koppes at 406-309-5334.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.