Havre schools holding emergency board meeting today, Harlem Monday

With the increase of cases around the state and in Hill, Chouteau, Blaine and Liberty county cases are being found in the schools as well, which is causing some to shift their plans, including Havre schools holding an emergency board meeting this afternoon and the Fort Belknap Indian Community asking Harlem schools canceling activities, as Hill County reported a record number of new cases.

Hill County Health Department reported Thursday evening that 34 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the county.

That puts the total in the county to 305 cases, 117 active and one hospitalization.

Blaine County reported four new confirmed cases, Chouteau County reported five new cases and two were confirmed in Liberty County.

The state set a new record with 715 newly confirmed cases.

Havre Interim Superintendent Craig Mueller said the board will meet at 3 p.m. via Zoom to discuss options for closing the school or going to remote learning next week.

The Havre school Zoom link is available at the district website at https://www.blueponyk12.com .

That is a shift from the situation Wednesday, when Mueller said things are holding steady thanks to the assistance of several staff members across the district. 

Harlem Superintendent Doreen Warren said she received a letter Thursday that says “The Fort Belknap Indian Community Incident Command Team, which includes medical professionals, has recommended that all sports activities be canceled for the remainder of the fall season and possibly into winter sports. The Fort Belknap Indian Community Council agrees and supports their recommendation.

“This decision is not made lightly,” the letter added. “We know it is not a popular decision to make, but we feel we have no choice for the time being due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19, coronavirus.”

Warren said the district has been on a temporary closure since September 28 to clean the buildings and to conduct contact tracing.  

Contact tracing is ongoing because of the huge number of cases, she said.

   “However, a significant segment of our Harlem community want the school closure to end in the middle of this contact tracing and to also resume all athletic practices and games,” Warren said.

The Harlem school board is holding a special meeting Monday.

See an update, "Havre schools continuing as is for now," on this website.