Charlo School District 7J kicks off the year on Aug. 20 with veteran superintendent Jim Baldwin taking the reins on a one-year contract.  

He replaces Teresa Weems, who was hired last year to replace long-serving superintendent Steve Love. She has since accepted the superintendent position at Lone Rock School District, beginning in July. 

Baldwin has been serving in Montana education for the last 50 years and as superintendent of various schools for the last 31 years. After Baldwin retired from Arlee Joint School District 8 as superintendent in 2020, he’s been called by six different schools to fill in as interim.  

Baldwin said as interim superintendent he takes one year at a time but Charlo will continue to remain a great school even though his future with it is uncertain.  

Charlo School District has seen some shifts in staffing since last year but now has a full crew, Baldwin said. A fifth grade teacher moved to the elementary principal position and the district also lost a counselor at the last minute. Baldwin said the district could use one or two more paraprofessionals, but explained staffing changes like this are just a part of his job.  

As of Aug. 11, Charlo had 196 students enrolled, which is a decrease of seven from the end of the 2024-2025 school year. However, Charlo is still enrolling for this school year, so numbers could change. 

“We hear rumors (that enrollment) is less, but we won't know for sure,” Baldwin said. “But usually this time of the year, you'll get a lot of a lot of people moving around, especially with open enrollment.”  

Baldwin said there aren’t a lot of changes to this year’s curriculum and Charlo has always been a quality school which is something he hopes to continue. Charlo also has a couple of upgrades such as repaving the back parking lot, paving the front where buses drop off students and a new coat of paint on the front of the elementary school.  

The biggest legislative change Charlo has seen this school year is the STARTS Act. This act will direct $100 million towards teachers’ starting pay in Montana’s K-12 schools. Baldwin said this increase is long overdue and will make teaching jobs more attractive.  

“Some schools are going to get a huge amount of money because they have a bigger amount of teachers,” Baldwin said. “But we just hope, now that we've gone to this, that they continue to fund it in the next legislative session.”