Hill County superintendent recommending rural schools cap enrollment

Editor’s note: This version corrects that Hill County Superintendent of Schools Vicki Proctor only was recommending rural Hill County Schools she oversees directly cap their enrollment. It also corrects the grade levels of an afterschool program at Davey Elementary School.

Hill County Superintendent of Schools Vicki Proctor said during a county officials meeting this week that local schools are still trying to cope with the aftereffects of the pandemic and there are so many children in need that she’s recommending that the local rural schools cap enrollment.

More students are seeking to transfer to Hill County’s rural schools to seek smaller class sizes to recover from impacts of the pandemic. Proctor said the schools are full, and she recommends not taking more students at the moment.

She said she’s also been reaching out to homeschoolers in the area to try to establish better connections with them and hopefully alleviate some recent frustrations they’ve expressed with the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

She also said a k-2 after school program was recently implemented at Davey Public Schools and it’s been so successful that afternoon bus drivers are wondering where all their riders are.

At the meeting, Bill Lanier, the new director of the Hill County Council on Aging, was introduced to the group.

Lanier said he’s been learning a lot since he took the position a few weeks ago and he’s happy to be part of the group even if the last week was a bit like “drinking from a fire hose.”

Officials welcomed him to the group.

During the meeting, officials also discussed a number of issues going on at the county including a recurring $3,000 grant the county can use for safety equipment.

Hill County Treasurer Sandy Brown asked what the plan was for how those funds would be spent.

Hill County Commission Executive Assistant Sheri Williams, who was the county’s safety coordinator until a couple months ago, said she sent information on that grant to Hill County Human Resources Director Brittany Pfeifer, who took over those duties.

After the meeting, Pfeifer said the deadline for submitting information to get that grant was pushed back so the county still has time to use it this year and she’s going to be taking care of that application.

The group also heard updates on the departments and their recent activities, with Brown delivering an update for Hill County Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong, who could not attend the meeting.

Brown said Armstrong’s department has been busy operating their satellite office at Rocky Boy and with getting ready for this year’s election.

Brown also requested that all officials who haven’t done so already get her their paperwork for the upcoming audit.

Hill County Public Health Director Kim Berg said they are planning to hold a Vote and Vaccinate event on election day at Havre High School so people going there can get vaccinated or boosted while they’re there.

Berg said she thinks the event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and she’s coordinating with Armstrong on setting that up.

She said the department can also set up appointments for people looking for any vaccine, not just COVID-19, by calling them.

Hill County Commissioner Jake Strissel said the commission had a meeting about work being done on the Milk River Levee last week, and they are waiting on a preliminary architectural report on the Rudyard Senior Center, which will tell them whether or not the structure is salvageable.

Hill County Undersheriff Stan Martin said they’ve set up numerous interviews for new staff at the detention center and handed out a bunch of applications at a recent job fair.

In recent months the department has had to pull patrol officers off the street to fill vacancies at the center, which Martin and Hill County Sheriff Jamie Ross have both said is becoming a serious impediment to the department doing its duties.