Havre School Board declares unforeseen emergency

Havre Public Schools held an emergency board of trustees meeting Tuesday to approve the aggregated hours for the 2019-2020 school year.

This meeting was held electronically under 2-2-302 Montana Code Annotated.

Havre Public Schools Superintendent Andy Carlson said as the board is not required to provide notice under 20-3-322 because it was an unforeseen emergency declaration.

He said the public schools system is about to run against its aggregated hours, the sum of hours worked by all people employed by the school district over the course of the year, and that if they do not meet the required aggregated hours, the district could lose funding.

The board voted to declare an unforeseen emergency due to the community and health concerns related to coronavirus and for the administration to take means they see as necessary.

Carlson said in an interview after the meeting that the trustees’ action means Havre Public Schools are not double-penalized for shortfalls in aggregate hours of instruction.

“It also ensures one day of school closure free of any penalty,” he said.

He added that aggregate hours differ by grade level.

Schools are still canceled in the surrounding areas.

Following Box Elder and Rocky Boy schools announced Saturday they would be closed starting Monday, Havre and Hays-Lodge Pole schools announced Sunday they also would be closed starting Monday.

Then Gov. Steve Bullock issued a directive Sunday including that all Montana K-12 public schools would be closed for two weeks.

The Montana University System had already announced that all units of the university system would be transitioning to online or other distanced learning procedures to reduce exposure to the virus.

Stone Child College is restricting access to the campus, with only students, faculty and staff allowed to enter, and the only through the entrance at the Kennewash Building.

Stone Child College made a post on its Facebook page and said it hopes to return to normal business hours Monday, March 30, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, the Aaniiih Nakoda College campus’s classes are closed while offices are open, for at least right now.