The Montana City School Board of Trustees further refined its reopening plans due to COVID-19, focusing on fall sports, transportation and staff compensation.
The opening of fall sports was postponed to Sept. 21 to allow school officials and the Board to reevaluate the program after the school year has started, as discussed at the Aug. 12 Trustees meeting.
All sports competitions would be limited to games between Montana City, Clancy, Boulder and East Helena, with no tournaments this season.
This will allow for more effective contact tracing should any COVID cases occur. By limiting student contact, tracing would become easier should the need arise. The suggestion was made that sports may also be intramural for the season, as the Board emphasized that they do not see the goal of school sports being competition but as a way to experience the sport, learn teamwork and social skills.
Based on a recent school survey, with a 97% participation rate, 130 students will ride buses, 343 have chosen to self-transport, and 34 students will remain at home for remote learning. Each full-sized bus cannot contain more than 50 students, which caused some concern, as the buses have been used in the past for trips to private childcare facilities. An increase in students on routes to places like Discovery Kid Zone or other private businesses could potentially breach the limit of 50 students per bus. To avoid this scenario, there was discussion of bus routes only transporting students between school and home with parents or private businesses arranging for any child-care transportation. This action was not taken as of the Aug.14 “Parent Update” provided by Montana City School.
Another transportation concern was in-person pick-up and drop-off. The board discussed staggered release times, staggered release areas, and other solutions to keep from overcrowding during these periods. For mornings, drop-offs should not occur until 7:45 a.m. in order to reduce crowding. As for dismissal, a detailed plan is set to be announced in the next “Parent Update,” for those riding the bus, as students will disembark and board the bus on the south side of the track and field.
The Board also discussed a thousand dollar stipend for the year for all classified and certified staff to cover the expenses of their additional duties, increased hours, and additional training. Both unions approved this plan. Administration and managers will not receive this stipend. However, the principals, nurses, and building staff will receive a separate stipend to account for the extra hours they have spent over the summer making plans to best address COVID-19.
Governor Steve Bullock’s mask mandate was briefly addressed. The language the school was using prior to the mandate will stand: “Practice physical distancing and face-covering when applicable,” as a mask requirement was already in place for students within the school. What the board did stress was the other precautions taken by the school outside of the mask mandate, including minimizing contacts and grade level movement. The school will also limit access to the school to pre-approved visitors, like vendors and volunteers, all of whom must wear a mask and complete a district-approved health screening form.
The Montana City School is expected to release more information to parents in the following updates as the Aug. 26 opening approaches. Parents are also encouraged to contact principals Daryl Mikesell or Cori Trudeau if they have questions or require more information.
