HARLEM, Mont. (NMB) – Harlem Public Schools held a special board meeting on Monday evening and unanimously voted to resume hybrid learning and athletics on October 19th.
The meeting was held in-person with a virtual option via Zoom.
Over a dozen members of the public spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, the vast majority of which were in favor of reopening. Those that spoke in favor included Wrestling Coach Lyle Faulkinberry, Activities Director Laramie Schwenke, and several students, teachers and parents.
“I still stand on opening schools and getting sports back going again,” Schwenke said. “The mental health, I’m heavy on that. Sports is a driver for many things for our kids. To come to school, keep their grades up. Last season we didn’t have a choice…This time around, all these kids sitting in here, this is the second time this is happening to them. We have a choice, I believe. Like I said last time, we can tighten things up, we can do this safely. If MHSA didn’t think this was safe, they would have pulled the plug by now.”
“We are being asked to sacrifice what amounts to a vast majority of our lives,” a Harlem High School senior and student athlete said. “Our education, our athletics, our social interaction. Our extracurricular activities, and our futures. Why is this asked of us when all that is asked of adults is to wear a mask in the grocery store and not go to the bar. Think about what you are asking. We are not considered vulnerable when it comes to COVID. But I beg you to see that we are the most vulnerable when it comes to the effects of minimizing this disease.””
The most vocal voice against resuming athletics was Fort Belknap Nurse Practitioner Dr. Jennifer Show.
“I wish I could change the facts about how transmission of this virus happens, but I can’t. I’m following what we are learning on a day-to-day basis. Right now, with our outbreak, it is not safe…The kids are getting a bum wrap…Yes, some parents aren’t doing what they are supposed to. I agree with that. The unfortunate thing is that’s a problem. We don’t know what the parents are doing. And then they are bringing it where? Home to the kids. And the kids are bringing it where? To the schools, or to the sporting events. Unless you can maintain social distancing and where a mask. That’s just fact. I’m sorry. I’ve said it before and I’m not going to rehash that whole thing. But that’s straight from the CDC guidelines.”
Last week, the Fort Belknap Incident Command team recommended that all sports activities remain shut down through the fall season due to the rise in COVID-19 in the area.
In Harlem’s hybrid learning model, the number of students are limited and staggered across the District. Temperature monitoring, frequent sanitizing, and social distancing are required.
The District has been in remote learning since the morning of September 28th, when in-person school was dismissed after they were notified a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19. The immediate closure was made in order to deep clean the District’s buildings and sufficiently contact trace.
Since the closure, several more District-Associated COVID-19 cases have been publicly reported. On October 7th, two students tested positive for COVID-19. One student attends the Junior/Senior High School and the other attends the elementary school. On October 8th, two more students tested positive for COVID-19. One student attends the Junior/Senior High School and the other attends the elementary school.
