2021 eventful year for Havre Public Schools

It's been a rough year for Havre Public Schools, with the complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior prank that lead to over $1,000 in property damage and a pair of shooting threats just last week.

However, perhaps the biggest story of the year was one that happened in the closing months of 2021, when Havre High School Principal Ed Norman resigned. The resignation came after complaints about the handling of an incident involving a Halloween costume at Havre High School people said was racially offensive.

The Friday before Halloween, a student came to HHS with their skin painted black from head to toe as part of a Halloween costume, and though the student was, by all accounts, unaware of how offensive the costume might be and was genuinely sorry for it, the incident caused outcry from students and parents because of how the school handled it.

Accounts from the parents of affected students say that the student in costume was allowed to walk around unconfronted well into the school day before any teachers or administrators said anything.

Exactly how long the student was allowed to remain in costume is unclear as accounts of the incident differ and Norman, in a statement to the Havre Daily News earlier this month, said Assistant Principal Kevin Nettleton took care of the situation before class began and he was not told about it until the end of the day.

Regardless, the incident was the cause of much consternation and criticism leveled at the school for its handling of the incident both as it was happening and in the immediate aftermath.

Last month Shanetrice Allen, one of the parents who complained about the costume and would go on to represent a group of likeminded parent with similar concerns, said she received word of the incident from a friend of hers who sent her pictures of the student in costume.

However, she said, when she called the school she was told the student in question was dressed as Carrie from the book and movie of the same name, a character who has been depicted as white in every major iteration of the story.

She said she was also told that the student in question didn't realize that the costume would be offensive and would upset their classmates, and when confronted about the issue was genuinely sorry and attempted to wash the paint off.

However the intention of the student was not her concern, she said.

Indeed, Allen, and the group she represented, were not looking for disciplinary action against the student but were instead concerned about the fact that the student was apparently allowed to wear the costume well into the school day without any teachers or administrators responding to it until enough complaints were made by students and their parents, Allen said.

She also criticized the school for its handling of her child's complaints, which she said wasn't taken seriously.

She said her son brought the matter to the attention of the school but no one addressed his concern until the next day, when he was pulled out of class and handed a generic harassment complaint form and was told if he didn't feel harassed to throw the form out.

No effort was made to explain the form or what was being done to address the issue, Allen said, and she was never called back by the school administration regarding the issue.

She said no one treated her son as if he had any valid reason to be upset and the lack of communication with them, along with the fact that it took until after the first period at least for the student to be told to wash the paint off, are the primary aspects of this incident she and her fellow parents are concerned about.

"To me this incident falls completely on the shoulders of the staff," she said.

She said the fact that this was allowed to go on for so long and the ensuing lack of action has created an environment where her son and other students of color feel like it's OK for them to be made fun of.

Beyond how long it took to respond, she said, the fact that her son and other students who complained were pulled out of class to be given the complaint form singles them out among their classmates, which is especially bad in her son's case as he already feared backlash from other students for complaining about the incident.

"Our kids want to be heard and seen, but they don't want to be singled out," she said.

When Allen brought the matter to the Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees last month HPS Superintendent Craig Mueller offered to meet with Allen and her group.

Allen agreed to the meeting, but criticized the district for not making efforts to keep her and her fellow parents informed about the investigation and its progress and what is being done to address this problem.

This controversy was followed by the resignation of Norman who, in a statement to the Havre Daily News in the wake of his resignation criticized the district for intervening in an incident that should have been handled within HHS, and that the response to the incident had "severely undermined" his leadership ability.

"The superintendent's response to what could have/should have been a building-level issue has done a great disservice to the district," he said.

Norman had been on paid administrative leave since early November after the controversy arose and the district began its investigation into the incident.

The district was quiet during the course of the investigation but it appears that HPS is attempting to address the problems found during the investigation of this incident.

In a meeting of the HPS Board of Trustees this month, Mueller said the school would be working with EmpowerMT a non-profit organization seeking to improve school environments for students and staff, one that they worked with in 2010.

He said in speaking with them he's impressed by the comprehensive nature of their programs which can train administrators, staff, teachers and even students should the board deem it necessary.

He said their mission, "To create a more just and inclusive society by developing youth and adult leaders who work to end mistreatment and correct systemic inequalities, strengthening communities across Montana," is an admirable one, and it has become clear since early November that the schools needs to make improvements.

Mueller said he doesn't want to just bring in a guest speaker to talk about the issue and leave it at that, but be more comprehensive and follow-up to make sure progress is actually being made, and this partnership will do that.

Issues of racism

While the district does appear to be making an effort to address the matter, many in the community, online and otherwise have expressed confusion over why this incident is considered as serious as it is, with much of the discourse at the time centering around the intentionality of the student in the costume, but, historically, blackface's very origins are rooted in racism.

Blackface, where a white person darkens their skin to portray a Black person, is a practice that dates back to the early 19th century when white actors, on stage or in film, would depict people of color with exaggerated facial features to entertain white audiences, said University of Montana African-American Studies Director Tobin Shearer in an interview last month.

Shearer said the practice was used to portray African-Americans as buffoonish, uneducated and objects of ridicule, and it contributed to a culture of racism that propped up the systematized subjugation of Black Americans under Jim Crow.

The practice was still being used in the early 20th century, he said, and it has always reinforced stereotypes and dehumanized people of color, and that history is echoed every time it is done, regardless of intention.

"You can't separate it from its history," he said, "And we've heard clearly, repeatedly and uniformly from members of the Black community that this is an offensive practice, and that's all we need to hear."

Allen and Shearer both said to focus solely on intention when it comes to incidents like this can be a serious problem with the latter saying intention isn't unimportant, but the fixation on intention when it comes to incidents like this often distracts from the fact that the practice is hurtful, regardless.

He said the natural inclination of institutions like schools when something like this happens is to focus on combating the perception of racism instead of addressing the issue head-on, and this tendency is a massive obstacle to greater change.

He said there's an observable and consistent pattern of institutions having some kind of racial crisis, immediately scrambling to make it go away, and make no lasting changes in the aftermath.

Shearer said for institutions to solve this problem they need to disconnect the crisis from the need to deal with the racism. He said they need to acknowledge what happened, not get defensive and learn from it so they can make changes to prevent it from happening again.

Every time an institution is more concerned with appearing racist than with dealing with racism it hurts the long-term goal of creating a better environment, he said.

"We don't get to (these issues) if we're defensive, we back away from them," he said. "... We need to walk toward them with maturity, with level-headedness, with an openness to learning, and that is what I'm hoping can come out of these situations. It rarely does, but I'm always hopeful."

Public response

While the long-term effects of HPS' ongoing efforts to address this issue remain to be seen the response to the incident from the larger community has been something of a mixed bag for the parents of affected students.

Allen said one parent in her group received a threat and had personal information of hers put on the internet in an apparent attempt at intimidation.

While that was the worst of it, she said, the response from the community was quite hostile to her group.

She said there have been plenty of people who have been supportive, but the overall atmosphere has made her concerned that her children may become targets themselves.

Allen said she loves the area and has ever since she moved here, but the fact that there are people who have been supportive does not erase the hostility she and her group have experienced from others that seem more angry that the story got out than the fact that it happened.

Four-day school week considered

The Havre school district also is starting the process of looking at switching to a four-day school week.

The district held a forum where representatives of some districts using a four-day week - Wolf Point, Big Sandy, Glasgow and North Star - talked about the benefits and issues of the change.

The group generally said the change has been beneficial, with issues that did arise being handled and resolved.

Havre is continuing to look at the issue, with a change possible next year.

A year of difficulties

While the blackface incident might be the biggest story at HPS this year, the district saw plenty of difficulties in 2021, not least of which was the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The schools did move back into a four-day in-person school week January of last year, but the delta variant-driven surge of COVID-19 made operation complicated as the area saw more and more COVID-19 cases.

The year also has seen the Havre schools facing shortages of employees, from certified teachers to bus drivers.

All of this took place against the backdrop of ongoing and heated debate over the district's masking policies which drew in tremendous public attention and controversy, particularly in meetings of the HPS Board of Trustees.

But the board had troubles of its own early in the year having to appoint Garrit Ophus to take the vacated position of former Trustee Scott Adams who was himself appointed in December of last year to the position previously held by Brian Williams.

Williams resigned from the board due to his move away from Havre.

Adams resigned after less than three months on the board, prompting the remaining board members to, on the advice of Havre Public Schools' legal advisor, immediately begin the search for a replacement.

Board Chair Aileen Couch said it was recommended that they get the position filled with enough time so that the appointee can file for the position in the upcoming election.

Due to the proximity to the deadline for filing for the election, the board had to temporarily suspend their normal procedures for finding and appointing trustees. The suspension only applied to this case and was voted for unanimously at their meeting earlier this month.

Ophus would go on to win that election, along with Lorraine Larson and Jacob Ingram, who both won three-year seats, as well as Britnee' Loch was the only candidate for the high school seat and was elected by by acclamation to fill the position.

The search for new administrators

The school also had to find a new superintendent in the wake of long-time Superintendent Andy Carlson's resignation in June of 2020.

Craig Mueller served as interim-superintendent between then and January of this year, when he submitted his letter of notification during a special board meeting, stating that he would not seek reemployment as superintendent for the 2021-2022 academic year.

He said that he was not leaving with ill feelings toward the board or HPS staff but felt that the position was not the right fit for him and he intended to return to his position as assistant superintendent and looked forward to supporting the district through his work there.

However Mueller changed his tune by late March and put his hat back in the ring.

He said he was asked to reconsider his decision not to apply for the position and after considering the advice he decided to go for it.

Mueller and Capital High School Principal Brett Zanto were both interviewed for the position in March and the consensus among the trustees was that both candidates were not only qualified for the position but performed admirably in their interviews, but Mueller's experience as interim superintendent at HPS gave him an edge over Zanto.

Many board members said Zanto did have the potential to bring new ideas and a new attitude to the district, but given the chaotic nature of the previous year, Mueller's experience and clearly demonstrated competence even in the uncharted waters of the COVID-19 pandemic might make him the more appropriate candidate.

Mueller thanked the board for the opportunity.

The district would also hire Brad Moore to replace Mueller as assistant superintendent early this year.

Moore, who had served as superintendent at Big Sandy for five years, and then split his superintendent duties between Sweet Grass County High School in Big Timber and in Stanford, won Montana's 2021-2022 Superintendent of the Year award.

He will go on to be considered for national superintendent of the year in February of next year.

And last week saw Havre High head football coach Ryan Gatch make a plea to the Havre school board to reconsider the district's decision to not renew his coaching contract.

The district is starting a search for a new head high school football coach.

'Senior prank' gone wrong

Despite successes in getting its leadership positions filled, the first half of 2021 was not without incident, particularly in the case of an apparent senior prank gone overboard, one that resulted in more than $1,000 in damages to Havre High School and created a social media firestorm in May.

Havre Police Department reported that a group of 30 or more Havre High School seniors had entered the school and while they were there a significant amount of vandalism occurred.

Havre Public Schools said in a statement after the incident that the damage was not a harmless prank and the people involved would face consequences.

"On May 24, 2021, a group of students from the Havre High School Class of 2021 made the poor decision to deface the hallways and bathrooms of the school as part of a 'senior prank,'" the statement said. "While it is understood that Senior Pranks can be a fun way for the graduating class to finish their time in the public school system, what happened that night went way past the boundary of being a harmless prank."

Havre Police Capt. Aaron Wittmer said that suspects spent about 90 minutes in the building taking actions like throwing toilet paper and paper towels around, plugging toilets and clogging drains with cereal.

He also said plumbers found watermelon and other fruit stuffed into the plumbing system.

He said the suspects also stacked more than 50 tires in front of the school's main entrance.

Wittmer said most if not all of the suspects, who were caught on security cameras - the suspects smeared the lenses of some of the cameras - had been identified.

He said charges could include felony counts of burglary and, if the damage exceeded $1,500, felony counts of criminal mischief as well.

The Havre schools statement said all factors would be considered.

"In light of this situation, the Havre High administration will be issuing consequences to all students involved," it said. "While we cannot discuss specifically what those will be, it will involve community service hours and we will be working in consultation with the Havre Police Department for potential charges as well. We are saddened that students who make up all facets of Havre High: Honor Society Members, Student Council Elected Officials, Athletes, and many others chose to represent themselves as they did that night."

The statement also said the actions went against what the school tries to instill in its students.

"At Havre High, we ask that our students have Pony Pride and do so by Being Safe, Being Responsible, Being Respectful, and Being Educated," it said. "The actions by the students participating that night do not exemplify any of these actions. We are disappointed in them and the lasting image that they chose to leave of the Class of 2021."

The entire class ended up being ordered to perform some community service.

A less-than-ideal ending

While virtually the whole year has been a difficult one for HHS, last week was especially difficult with the school having to deal with two threats.

Havre Chief of Police Gabe Matosich said in a release that the department began an investigation after it was notified about 2:40 p.m. that a threatening note was found at the school last Wednesday.

Matosich said the note, turned into school administration by a student, said a shooting would occur near the end of the day.

Matosich said a 16-year-old girl was interviewed during the investigation and was subsequently arrested and transported to the Cascade County Juvenile Detention Center to be held pending felony charges of intimidation.

Mueller said a student notified administration of the potential threat about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, and the school was put into a hold-in-place status. In that status, doors to rooms are closed students and school employees stay in the rooms they are in until released.

He said the threat was found to be non-credible shortly before the end of the school day and Havre High was back in session the next day.

However, the very next day local schools were put on alert or closed in response to a threat to safety "for every school in the USA, even elementary" shared on the social media platform TikTok.

Local schools noted that the post appears to be part of a national trend on TikTok and did not originate in the local districts, but is circulating in the local schools.

The Havre district, along with the Box Elder and Harlem school districts, said the TikTok posts circulating in the district do not appear to be credible and do not appear to be local in origin, but the districts are taking them seriously and monitoring the situation and additional police presence may be in their buildings that day.

It did lead to some schools in the state, including Hays-Lodge Pole schools, to close for the day.

Despite the year's difficulties Havre Public Schools does have interesting possibilities on the horizon as discussions continue about possibly moving to a four-day school week, using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to substantially improve the districts' buildings' air circulation, air quality, and energy systems and the ongoing formulation of a 10- to 15-year strategic plan to improve the district.