HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Havre Public Schools Superintendent Craig Mueller spoke with New Media Broadcasters on Wednesday to discuss the decision to move back to hybrid learning until further notice.
“We took a close look at the number of our staff who were either quarantined or positive cases compared with when we went remote 14-days ago. And right now, our staff is in a pretty healthy place. We do have a little uptick in quarantined students at our high school. We’re continuing to work with them through remote learning and providing materials to them. But that was a major factor in looking at can we provide that top-notch education to our students in a manner that isn’t upsetting other building in the District. In our past, we kind of had to patchwork to get through some of our rougher patches with a number of teachers that were quarantined, and other teachers that were positive, and we want to avoid that moving forward.”
Mueller says the other major factor that played into the decision was the need for students to have face-to-face contact with students.
“It is very difficult. We ask a lot of our parents, we ask a lot of our students, and we ask and extreme amount from our teachers to deliver the instruction remotely when we know that face-to-face instruction is what’s best. It’s what’s best for all parties involved, and we’d like to continue to move in that direction as we continue to work through the pandemic.”
Balancing Parent Requests with Health Recommendations
During Tuesday’s board meeting, many parents that provided public comment asked the District to move to Phase 3 of reopening as soon as possible.
This would mean students would be in the classroom four or five days a week, with social distancing being a challenge due to the number of students and the size of classrooms.
“Everyone involved wants to see more students in the building on a more consistent basis. Right now, with the positivity rate, that’s not a wise decision to move in that direction knowing that we really have to take into consideration that prevention science. And we are limiting our contact, not only with one another, but in controlling in small groups, the size of our classes. We’re going to continue to do that in our effort to try to contribute to this much greater community mitigation.”
Mueller says he understands those that want students back into the classroom more soon, and that it is the District’s “ultimate goal,” but that the continued surge of COVID-19 in the area means they have to take the health of the community into consideration.
“We want to make sure that we’re making those decisions in a time that is safe for all of our staff, safe for all of our students. We’re quickly realizing now as we’re just going to be wrapping up the first nine weeks grading period that it doesn’t look like the virus is heading in a direction where it’s going to be going away anytime soon. So again, we have to look at this as we quickly approach Thanksgiving and into the Christmas season, that we know that people tend to travel, and we have to be mindful of all of those outside factors that influence our school environment.”
Superintendent’s Administrative Team
The decision to reopen the District to hybrid learning until further notice came with one caveat.
If a COVID-19 outbreak were to be identified in a specific building, or there were to be a large number of quarantined students or staff, the decision could be made by the Superintendent’s Administrative Team to move a school to remote learning until the next board meeting.
“We’re going to look at if there’s an outbreak over the weekend, for example, or if there’s a midweek outbreak that would really put our staff at a disadvantage where we couldn’t provide equitable educational services, to make that decision and be able to act in a quick manner to temporarily move those schools into a remote setting, rather than convening the entire board to call an emergency meeting, thus delaying what action could be taken to better serve not only the students, but our staff.”
The Superintendent’s Administrative Team will consist of the Director of Special Services, the Facilities and Transportation Director, the Business Clerk, and affected Building Principals. Mueller adds that Nurse Jeri Erickson will also be involved in decision making.
Extracurriculars
Although Havre High School’s football team had their season cut short due to a majority of their players being in quarantine, Mueller says other extracurricular activities have been going steady.
“We got through our cross-country season and completed that over in Whitefish at the state meet without any major disruptions as far as quarantines. I know we had some during the regular season. Our volleyball team has remained healthy. We also have our students that our involved in the play who are practicing and working along and wearing masks. And we’ve been able to be pretty successful in that area as well. As we’ve learned and as we are all aware, one positive case can have a great impact on the other people around them. Everybody is mindful of that. We’re appreciating every opportunity we have to participate in those extracurricular activities, realizing that things can change very quickly.”
Trustee Williams’ Resignation
School Board Trustee Brian Williams resigned from the position following the last Board meeting because he is moving out of state.
Williams was also working as the Vice President of Professional Services at Northern Montana Hospital, and Mueller says he appreciates his service to the community.
“Trustee Williams did a great job and brought to the Board experienc… From being a father of many children in the District, from his professional life, his insight was definitely very beneficial to our Board as a whole. His (presence) will definitely be missed.”
With Williams departure, Havre Public Schools is now accepting letters of interest from people that may want to join the Board. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, and a qualified voter and resident of the school district.
Letters of Interest should be addressed to Mrs. Aileen Couch, Chair, Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees, by 4 PM on Friday, November 20th.
A screening process will be conducted and interviews may be conducted at a Board Meeting announced at a later date.
This seat will be up for election in May 2021.
