Our View: Hays-Lodge Pole back on the right path

Not long ago, we wrote in this column that the only heroes in the Hays-Lodge Pole school district were the students who kept coming to school every day in hopes of getting an education.

The school was in an adult-induced bedlam. In a power struggle, the district was without a principal, superintendent or any sense of order.

Well, help is on the way And who is offering the help? No one other than the students and the Hays-Lodge Pole community.

With a new school board, a new superintendent and new sense of commitment, the district is bouncing back from its past troubles.

Saturday, the community celebrated the school’s rebirth. There was a celebratory atmosphere as the community gathered for a luncheon, music and speeches from community leaders.

Mark Azure, the new Fort Belknap tribal council chair, went as far as to say he would be moving from the north part of the reservation to the Hays area. Folks on the southern part of the reservation have always felt that they were the forgotten stepchildren on the reservation. Azure’s decision must be a morale booster.

Of course, it will take a lot of hard work to get Hays-Lodge Pole back to where it ought to be. The Montana Office of Public Instruction is doing its part in providing a $1.5 million three-year grant to help the district find its way.

But the money will do nothing without the support of the community.

From what happened Saturday, it seems like that’s going to happen.