School seeks volunteers for two committees

West Glacier Elementary School is looking for community input on two committees.

The school needs public involvement on hiring and steering committees, Principal Cortni King said in a press release.

The hiring committee will help find a certified instructor to teach kindergarten, first and second grades.

That position had been held by Stephanie Comer, but the board voted in May not to renew her contract. She did not have tenure.

The decision was met with outrage by many, and several people attended a special meeting at the end of the month to plead with the board to rehire Comer. Trustees stuck by their decision, and the position was advertised online.

Applications were due June 11 and West Glacier hopes to start reviewing them today or Friday, King said. The district would like to set up interviews with applicants next week.

Ideally, the review committee will be made up of King, tenured teacher Carolyn Wieringa, a school board trustee, one parent and one community member, King said. The community member must be a resident of the West Glacier School District.

Anyone interested in serving on the hiring committee should contact King today.

The school also needs members for its steering committee, which will begin to review the vision, mission and belief statements of West Glacier Elementary this summer, King said. The committee also will review information from the five-year comprehensive plan the district released last fall.

The committee will begin working in July and will wrap up no later than spring 2011, King said.

Those interested in serving on the steering committee should contact King by June 30.

For additional information, call King at 888-5312 or e-mail her at cortnik@wge.k12.mt.us.