Advisory committee deadlocks over school counselor ratio

A state education committee tasked with advising the Montana Board of Education on changes to school quality regulations deadlocked Friday as it debated whether to support abandoning a requirement that Montana schools employ at least one school counselor for every 400 students.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Elise Arntzen and some rural school administrators have argued that mandating a ratio is “not necessary” and that local officials are better positioned to recognize the needs of their schools’ students...