Havre K-5 students staying in Schedule 2B through next week

A release issued by Havre Interim-Superintendent of Public Schools Craig Mueller this morning said the county has not yet met requirements to move to a four-day in-class schedule for Havre schools and the return of grades kindergarten through five will be delayed.

A proposal recommended by Mueller Dec. 8 and approved by the Havre school board in a 4-3 vote included having K-five students go to four-day in-class learning if certain requirements were met.

The proposal had grades six through 12 moving to four-day in-class learning at the start of the next semester, Jan. 25, if the requirements were met.

The requirements were that:

• community cases per day are fewer than 50 per 100,000 prior to Jan. 8;

• the community positivity rate is at or below 10 percent Jan. 8;

• the district is able to deliver instruction face-to-face with certified staff at each building,

• and parents and students understand that face coverings must be worn at all times when social or physical distancing of six feet cannot be maintained.

Mueller said the positivity rate in testing this morning is 15.02 percent, failing to meet the 10 percent or less requirement.

He added that the community spread/matrix is likely to be above the 50 cases/day/100,000 mark by Monday — the Hill County Health Department looks at numbers from Monday to Sunday in figuring the matrix. That number was at 48.53 this morning, Mueller said.

The 50 per 100,000 per day translates to an average of about 8 people a day.

Hill County had seen numbers drop dramatically in November and December, which included increased announcements requesting people following recommendations including wearing cloth masks when out in public, avoiding large gatherings, maintaining at least six feet of distance when possible when out in public and regularly washing hands and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.

It also followed increased restrictions put in place by Hill County Health Board and about a week later by Gov. Steve Bullock.

But the numbers are climbing again this week, which Hill County Public Health Director and Health Officer Kim Larson said was somewhat expected after the holidays, adding that she hopes the numbers will again drop.

The numbers reported Thursday were back down to five new cases confirmed, but it was up to 27 Wednesday, with seven confirmed Tuesday and 23 confirmed Monday, which included some cases confirmed but not reported from Thursday through Sunday over the holiday weekend.

In a split vote in August, the Havre school board approved starting the year on Schedule 2B, a hybrid model where half of the students attend classes in the school buildings Monday and Wednesday and the other half on Tuesday and Thursday. Friday is a remote learning day for all students.

As the number of new daily cases surged in the area and in the state, the board approved in a split vote Oct. 13 going back to full remote learning for two weeks when 20 cases related to the district had been confirmed. Havre went back to the Schedule 2B hybrid plan Oct. 28.

Havre Public Schools has been reporting more confirmed cases related to the school district in the past few weeks, and its list of quarantined and COVID-19-positive staff and students reported in its Monday update that the district has had 653 confirmed cases.

Mueller said the meeting plan will be re-evaluated at the school board meeting Tuesday, set at Havre Middle School.

A meeting agenda and Zoom link for the meeting are available at http://www.bluepony.com .