School board hears how Havre district using relief funds

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees, HPS Superintendent Craig Mueller provided details on how the system’s administrative team is considering using Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief funds after analyzing data obtained from a community survey on the subject.

Mueller said the results of the ESSER survey were very helpful and his team has been discussing the results and how to use these COVID-19 relief funds to address the issues the community indicates it cares most about.

Throughout the survey, he said, he noticed a consistent concern expressed about the needs of homeless students, and the team is talking about what to do to help meet these students need in terms of food, clothing and health on a building by building level.

He said student mental health in general was another area of concern identified by respondents and the recent addition of another health and physical education teacher in the district will help, but conversations are being had about how to improve mental health care via social and emotional learning from kindergarten on up, efforts the schools psychologist is assisting with.

Mueller said the administration is looking to address emotional trauma caused by the pandemic and other stressors to give students the best chance they have to succeed.

He said another huge interest shared by most respondents was updating the schools’ technology and addressing connectivity issues when it comes to wifi.

He said they are looking at the possibility of adding wifi on the schools buses so students can use the internet while on long rides, but they have also considered placing buses at key points throughout the community when they’re not in use to provide wifi hotspots for students in areas with low internet connectivity.

Mueller said the school is also looking into updates to its policies regarding discipline and attendance, as well as why so many respondents said it was an interest of theirs.

During the meeting he also asked the board to approve a trio of memorandums of understanding with various groups of HPS employees that allows them to collect premium pay for unique duties performed outside the normal operation of the schools due to the pandemic.

He said this is not a bonus, stipend or overtime pay, but pay for unique additional duties employees preformed to prepare for, respond to, and mitigating the effects of COVID-19.

Mueller said ESSER funds can be used to provide this premium pay and he hopes it will help HPS retain staff during these difficult times.

The board unanimously approved the MOUs.

The meeting was mainly focused on approving a bevy of new and revised school policies, the vast majority of which involved language changes meant to bring the district in line with state and federal standards.

Members of the board asked Mueller a handful of clarifying questions, but most of these changes did not prompt much discussion, and all were approved unanimously.

During the public comments section of the meeting, former board member Montana State Rep. Ed Hill R-Havre., a former member of the Havre School Board, said he disagreed with the practice of passing any non-emergency measures on only one reading, which some things at this meeting were.

Hill said he understands Mueller and the board’s reasons for doing it but he thinks all issues of that nature should have a second or third reading so the public has more of a chance to comment.

He also commented on the issue of mask requirements in the schools, which wasn’t being discussed at the meeting, but will be at a special meeting next week.

He said Gov. Greg Gianforte did an interview earlier that day and emphasized taking personal responsibility and not mandating masks.

Hill thanked the board members for their time, acknowledging the difficult positions they often find themselves in while doing a thankless job.

The board also approved out-of-state travel for the band and flag teams to participate in Washington State University’s Marching Band Championship in October.

Band Director Cullen Hinkle said the students are at band camp, all of them are working hard, and being invited to the event is a honor that they are all excited about, especially given the last year’s events or lack there of.

“Quite frankly we weren’t able to do a lot last year,” he said.

Hinkle said the band will preform what they plan to do in Washington this Friday at the Havre High football stadium at 6 p.m. and he invites members of the board to come.

Havre High Principal Ed Norman said this is a great opportunity for the students to stretch their education outside of Havre, and he’s very excited about the prospect.

The board also approved out-of-state travel for students of Havre High CloseUp to go to Washington, D.C., to learn about democracy and the way government works, also in October.

Norman said the group has been trying to go since the beginning of the pandemic and a few students who wanted to go last year graduated and missed their chance, so this is a great opportunity.

Mueller said the Havre Public Schools Welcome Back Orientation will be Aug. 23 this year and he hopes everyone on the board will be able to attend an event he believes will provide hope for the coming year after a difficult time.