BOZEMAN — Earlier this month, MTN's Donna Kelley visited with retiring Belgrade Superintendent Godfrey Saunders.
In her latest "Kelley Conversation," Donna sits down with Dede Frothingham, the assistant superintendent about to move up to the top job.
Donna: What are you apprehensive about and also excited about?
Frothingham: “I’m excited about being able to keep the momentum that we have going that we formed under Godfrey Saunders, who’s been a tremendous leader for the district. And we have an incredible school board that works hard to research things and support our community and our students. Working with them has just been a great joy. I look forward to continuing that work."
“Apprehensive—I think just in general education can be a hard place to be right now with staffing issues and fundraising issues. But that’s all part of the job and the challenge is really exciting."
Donna: We just had a story that Manhattan is looking at beginning a four-day week. Is that something that you might look at for Belgrade?
Frothingham: “I think we just actually did a transportation survey to ask parents and staff members for feedback on bus routes and what we’re going to do because we’re struggling to find bus drivers. That actually came up from a number of participants in the survey saying, ‘are you considering a four-day week’."
“I would imagine that we would want to get feedback specifically on questions from our families. I think in general it’s easier for small communities to do that than it is for larger communities.”
Donna: That’s the thing that pops up in my mind. What will parents do with their children on that fifth day?
Frothingham: “We’ll get feedback from our community and see if that’s a viable option. There are pros and cons to it. So we’ll be taking a look at it."
Donna: What’s your priority list when you take over? You start June 30 when Godfrey retires.
Frothingham: “We’re hoping that there’s a really seamless transition. So there’s a lot of things to work on. We’ve just purchased a lease on DNRC land and we’re going to have a team together to talk about what’s our next steps with that.”
“Our intent most likely is to build another elementary school to get ready for the growth that’s happening. The board is working on a strategic plan, specific goals that we want to be working on”
Donna: There are 3,400 kids in the Belgrade School System. Would you need another middle school?
Frothingham: “We will eventually. I think we have the largest middle school in the state and there are great benefits to having 5th graders in the middle school. They have access to all sorts of classes. That’s part of what the school board is going to consider: at what point will we build another middle school, especially as we see growth throughout the valley.”
Donna: What is your history? Where did you grow up and did you always want to work in education?
Frothingham: “I lived in a number of different states. I was born in Michigan, then went to Nebraska. I moved to the DC area when I was 10. I stayed through college and grad school. I lived in Sante Fe, New Mexico for my first teaching job and worked at the school for the deaf for six years. New England, New Hampshire for 12 years. I was a teacher, principal, and curriculum director.”
“I came to Montana five and half years ago and was the special education director for Belgrade School District. Then this year, I moved into the assistant superintendent position."
Forthingham says she always knew she wanted to be an educator.
“It’s what drives me. Every day I wake up thrilled to be an educator,” she said. “Both my parents were teachers and librarians in Belgrade School System. I have a soft spot for education and Belgrade Schools.”
