Havre school board updates COVID-19 emergency policies

Havre Public Schools will be discussing possible alterations to their COVID-19 procedures as the pandemic seems increasingly close to ending, despite recent upticks in areas of the U.S.

At a special meeting of the Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees Tuesday HPS Superintendent Craig Mueller recommended the board adopt a few changes to the district’s Safe Return to School an Continuity of Services Plan, which, among other things, allows schools to quickly transition to remote learning in case of an emergency.

Mueller said the plan needs to stay in place for another school year and he recently made some changes and additions to the policy to update it for the new year and include details about a two-day stretch in January when Sunnyside Intermediate School went remote due to COVID-19 cases in the school.

He said the matter will be revisited during the summer as well, specifically the school’s state of emergency declaration and what pandemic-related policies they are going to keep in place and which are going to be retired.

“There are some (policies), that allow us some flexibilities, but there are others that we will hopefully not need, and won’t need ever again,” he said.

Board members unanimously approved the changes proposed by Mueller, who said depending on what the COVID-19 situation is later in the year the board may discuss the matter of emergency procedures as early as July, but will need to make decisions by early August to effectively implement any changes for the upcoming year.

COVID-19 in the U.S. and the world

While COVID-19 is surging in parts of the U.S. like Washington and the northeast, it has not been as dramatic as the upticks seen in part of Asia in Europe in recent weeks. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than half of all Americans, including more than 75 percent of children, have had COVID-19 at some point.

The immunity granted by having had the virus may be the reason the surges in the U.S. have generally not been as severe as those seen in other countries, but health experts continue to urge caution and encourage vaccination, as the immunity granted from having had the virus is not nearly as high and may be temporary.

While Montana’s numbers are down significantly, the virus can still be deadly and health care organizations and experts say vaccination remains the best way protect against it and prevent hospitalization and death, as well as some of the long-term adverse effects of COVID-19 which are still not fully understood but can cause serious health problems.

Monday, the Hill County Health Department in its weekly update reported two new COVID-19-related deaths, the county’s first since February.

Deaths often occur weeks or even months after the cases are confirmed and health agencies generally do not list the exact date of death.

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services reported the two Hill County deaths Monday as part of 38 deaths it said were confirmed as part of a reconciliation process which included eight deaths in the winter of 2021, nine in January, 12 in February, eight in March and one in April.

It reported Tuesday 22 additional deaths confirmed in the reconciliation process, two more in the winter of 21, six in January, eight in February, four in March and two in April with none from Blaine, Chouteau, Hill or Liberty counties.

As of the county updates Monday and the state update Tuesday, Blaine County has had 33 COVID-19-related deaths, Hill has had 74, Chouteau has had 14 and Liberty County has had four.

The daily state update was not available as of printing deadline today.

As of the state update Tuesday, the state has had 3,322 COVID-19-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.

COVID-19 surges still occurring

While the omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 caused massive spikes in cases earlier this year, repeatedly shattering records in the U.S. and worldwide, having been far more contagious than its predecessors, a few mutations of that variant have found their way around the world causing their own surges.

However, while the virus seeming to become more and more contagious over time through new variants and mutations it also appears to be becoming less and less life-threatening as well, which is not uncommon for extremely contagious viruses of this type.

Despite this general trend there is still concern among experts that the more the virus spreads the more opportunities it has to develop new variants and mutations, potentially becoming more dangerous again, so vigilance is still being encouraged.

Other school board business

During Tuesday’s HPS Trustees meeting, Mueller also announced the appointment of Hayley Criner as Highland Park Principal as well as the departure of Administrative Assistant Shelley Southworth, whom he said has agreed to help train her successor if needed, so the school will still have access to her for a while, a fact Mueller was very happy about.

“So I’m going to ask Brad (Moore) not to look really hard to fill that position,” he said jokingly.

He also told the board that Charlie’s Heating and Air recently fixed a problem with one of the walk-in freezers at Havre High School and waived all the costs for their work.

“Thank you for all you and the staff do for our community,” he said, reading from a letter sent by the company. “Charlie’s Heating and Air is going to donate the motor, the ice machine’s parts and Charlie’s labor as a way of saying thank you.”

Mueller also said Gov. Greg Gianforte will be at Sunnyside Intermediate School Thursday to meet with some teacher’s affected by the TEACH Act passed in the last legislative session, an act which raised starting teacher pay in the state.

He invited members of the board to attend the event and said Gianforte should have some time to take questions.

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Managing Editor Tim Leeds contributed to this story.