Helena Public School's Board of Trustees unanimously approved an opening plan for the 2020-21 school year Tuesday evening.
The draft plan presented at the regular monthly school board meeting is a revised version of the draft plan released in late July. The plan lays out a number of contingencies that the district can implement to open while reducing the spread of COVID-19.
Superintendent Tyler Ream said that in just over a week the district received approximately 150 emails regarding the plan and the feedback was considered before presenting the second draft of the plan to the board, which was updated on Aug. 6. The plan is still subject to change and evolve as deemed necessary by the district.
Ream said many of the questions received were regarding the four-phase system for reopening. Decisions on phases are made by the district and Lewis and Clark Public Health and are independent of the state of Montana's COVID-19 phase system for reopening the economy. The phases are as follows:
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- Phase 0: Fully closed. Online learning only.
- Phase 1: Alternative to closure. Students attend school in-person but in cohorts on a limited basis. Blended in person and remote services in place for all students.
- Phase 2: Modified. Near/full capacity with modified operations. Limited number of general activities and gatherings to allow for maximum distancing.
- Phase 3: Normal. Near/full capacity with full operations. Follow general health and safety protocols.
Many of the questions the district received came from parents wanting to know which phase the school planned to open in to decide whether to enroll students in remote learning under the district's Digital Learning Initiative.
Ream said the district does not currently know what phase students will return to, remarking that the situation could change drastically over the next few weeks. Ream added that he understands that parents want to know so that they can make decisions, but said it's important that the district have some consistency on DLI enrollment. DLI is not attached to any specific phase and will operate independently of the district's declared phase. Unfortunately, parents who, for example, only want to be part of DLI during Phase 1 don't give the district the needed consistency.
As of Aug. 11, approximately 600 students have been registered for the DLI. The deadline to register is Friday, Aug. 14.
Ream reiterated that while a phase up, for instance, from Phase 1 to Phase 2, can be planned for weeks, a phase down can come with only a few hours notice. If a student or employee tests positive, that school will shut down in concert with Lewis and Clark Public Health in order for proper contact tracing to be performed.
Ream said that with the number of cases trending up, opening under Phase 1 is an optimistic goal, but not a guaranteed reality. If the numbers do not start trending down it will hurt the district's ability to open in Phase 1.
"We obviously need to see a trend down in positive cases over the next two weeks," Ream said. "We have gone in the wrong direction six weeks in a row."
The current plan is to begin with the rolling start on Aug. 31 with students attending in-person classes on different days. The updated plan has new criteria for closing/opening, general health and safety guidelines and a schedule based on last name for the first week of students attending school. Ream said the best way of splitting the district's more than 8,000 students is to use the ranges of A-L and M-Z for the "first letter of last name" criteria.
An example would be a student with a last name starting with A would go on days designated A and a student with a last name starting with M would go on B days. This will be the case during the first week of school, and could continue based on phase decisions.
Currently, Phase 2 is not aligned with local health conditions and parents should plan for continued child care five days per week, said Ream.
"It is impossible to predict the pandemic," Ream said. "We are not in control. The virus is going to dictate conditions."
Public health officer Drenda Niemann said phase changes and criteria can shift on a daily basis. What public health officials know today is different than what they knew yesterday and could be different than what they will know tomorrow. She said they will have to move through the school year based on what is happening in the community. Data points help to make these decisions, but they are just tools that can help inform a conversation, according to Niemann.
Two major challenges facing the district are staffing and child care.
The district is currently attempting to tackle the challenge of matching student and employee needs. They are working to hire replacement personnel for any employee unable to perform their role in person. They are also trying to anticipate the needs associated with the substitute teacher pool.
Child care is a difficult task facing the district. Ream said the district cannot simply reopen after-school programs in the same capacity they existed in the past. He said the district will simply not be able to provide care for every child.
"We just don't have the capacity," Ream said.
Ream said there is not a one-size-fits-all model for schools to reopen. He said educators everywhere are struggling right now. He asked parents to understand that conditions are constantly changing and the district receives new memos or guidance every single day and details can be difficult to finalize. Ream asked for continued support and patience at this time.
Trustee Sarah Sullivan implored parents to consider their own role in students being able to return to school this fall.
"If you would like children to go back to school," Sullivan said. "Please do your part to stop the spread."
Trustee Terry Beaver said this was the most difficult decision he ever had to make as a member of the school board. He noted that this was because people's health and well-being were at stake in the plan.
The public and teachers had the chance to weigh in before Tuesday night's vote.
While some parents testified in favor of reopening, several teachers and Helena Education Association's Jane Shawn indicated continued concerns. Shawn shared statistics collected that shows most teachers are not fully comfortable with a return to school. Overall teachers expressed a strong desire to return to school and their students, but a reluctance to do so given the current trends following COVID-19.
CR Anderson middle school teacher Jake West echoed this sentiment. He said that while he misses and cares for his students, it is the health and lives of teachers that are on the line as they look to return to school in the coming weeks.
Another teacher asked that the board and administration consider the long-term impacts on the health of teachers who survive COVID-19, and how many unknowns still exist in that realm.
If you'd like to view the most up-to-date plan or register for the district's DLI, visit the district's website.