Rocky Boy school board to hear re-opening options Tuesday

Rocky Boy Public Schools Superintendent Voyd St. Pierre said this morning 100 parents and 37 staff  responded to a survey offered to the schools’ its staff, community and parents for input on a fall re-opening plan.

He said 54 percent of the parents who responded wanted to remain in remote learning, about 33 percent wanted a blended/hybrid format and a very small percentage of the respondents was comfortable sending their children back in a standard school setting.

He said that the staff who responded to the survey 63 percent are in favor of a blended/hybrid program.

Rocky Boy Public Schools will go over the survey and discuss its re-opening plan at a School Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday.

“My recommendation is being presented to them tomorrow and of course, it could be modified change in a different way, but what I will be recommending to the board is based on the information I’ve received from a variety of sources — state, federal, community, fellow school districts, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention,” St. Pierre said.

Four options will be presented: Full return, full remote, a hybrid plan and an option for parents to keep their children at home, he said.

He said he will be recommending that they start the school year off on a remote learning format.

“As part of my plan, we go through the month of September in remote learning, and then, based on the current situation locally, statewide, nationally, and then possibly moving into October to a modified or a hybrid learning meaning we would bring in a group a couple days a week.” he said. “Kind of putting them in Group A, Group B and two days a week in class, in face and remote learning for the rest of the week.”

It will be day-by-day and week-by-week basis to see how things are going locally, statewide and nationally, he said.

He said the second phase of the hybrid modified model may go up till the semester in January or it could be modified or changed if they see if COVID-19 is controlled a little better.

The school calendar will also be presented at Tuesday’s meeting for approval, he added.

“I want our community, our staff, our parents, our students to know that safety is our very top priority on students and staff within our system,” St. Pierre said. “No easy thing. Things change every day.” 

The Rocky Boy School Board meeting is Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the high school social studies room.