MILES CITY — In most high schools, one principal leads the entire student body. But at Custer County District High School in Miles City, two people are sharing that job.
Watch the full story of the two principals below:
The school is being led by two principals after the head principal and assistant principal positions both opened up late in the school year. The district's superintendent says the arrangement is a response to ongoing staffing shortages affecting schools across the country.
When the positions opened, Erin Landrum and Raelynn Roesler saw an opportunity.
"It was kind of a joke, kind of not. I said, 'Hey, Raelynn, do you wanna maybe go to the high school? Because I'll do it if you do it,'" Landrum said.
Together, they developed a plan they had never seen before.
"We kind of concocted this plan with support from our superintendent that we could possibly do a co-principalship," Landrum said.
The concept raises an obvious question: How do two principals run one school? For Landrum and Roesler, the answer came down to teamwork. Before the school year started, the two sat down and divided responsibilities.
"Before the school year started, we sat down, and we broke up departments. So like I said, she's English, I'm math, I'm social studies. She's special ed," Landrum said. "We broke up different grade levels."
Superintendent Meghan Brown says the question was never whether the two could do the job — it was about designing a model that would let them do it together.
"It was just a question of how could this look different than the model that we've traditionally had in the schools in Montana and all over the nation actually traditionally have," Brown said.
As schools across the country struggle to fill teaching and leadership positions, Custer County got creative.
"How could we structure this so they're equals? And sell that to a community and a school district," Brown said.
They may be the only school in Montana with this structure — something Landrum and Roesler are proud of.
"I think women in empowering positions where we're doing great things, and we're starting something new that no one's ever done. I love it. I'm glad to be a part of it," Landrum said.
"We can just play off each other's strengths and weaknesses, and I think that's a big part of what makes it successful," Roesler said.
And while two principals are sharing the work, they say they are focused on the same mission.
"They're still kids, you know, like we want them here. We want them learning. We want them to enjoy being here," Roesler said.
