Valley Journal
Valley Journal

This Week’s e-Edition

Current Events

Latest Headlines

What's New?

Send us your news items.

NOTE: All submissions are subject to our Submission Guidelines.

Announcement Forms

Use these forms to send us announcements.

Birth Announcement
Obituary

Former Ronan teacher loses ability to teach in Montana

Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local. You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.



Subscribe now to stay in the know!

Already a subscriber? Login now

RONAN – A former Ronan Middle School teacher lost his license to teach in the State of Montana due to allegations of sexual misconduct. 

The Montana Board of Public Education revoked Zachary Rowan’s license in November. Rowan was a middle school English teacher at the Ronan School District when he was accused of having a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student back in January 2018. 

Pete Donovan, the executive director, explained that there is a national database of disciplinary actions against educator licenses maintained by the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. He said if an educator has a license revoked in Montana or any other state, a record of that action is entered into the national database and each state crosschecks the data before issuing new licenses. 

The school began an investigation when the allegations were first made. Ronan School District Superintendent Mark Johnston said an adult notified the school that a teacher and a student had an inappropriate relationship. “The District initiated an investigation immediately,” Johnston said. 

Before the investigation was finished, Rowan resigned from his teaching position. The school accepted the resignation and ended the investigation. Although allegations were substantiated during the investigation, the matter was referred to the Office of Public Instruction.

“The district acts on all reports of inappropriate conduct by staff members and takes action when it has evidence of inappropriate conduct,” Johnston said. “The district will continue to educate students and staff about establishing and maintaining professional boundaries and will continue to take action when necessary to enforce its rules and regulations about professional boundaries and conduct.”

During the Board of Public Education meeting, the issue sparked a need for legislative change. It was said that in Montana the age of consent is 16 years old, which means that criminal charges won’t be filed in the matter because the student was 18 years old during the relationship. It was said that school should be a safe environment regardless of the age of consent. Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen is proposing that Montana laws make it illegal for teachers or staff to have sex with students who are of the age of consent.

Sponsored by: