Box Elder Schools reopened after Friday closure

Box Elder Schools are open today after an unexpected closure due to a “foreign substance” found in the building that necessitated its shutdown Friday

A release put out by the school Sunday said that the school has been thoroughly cleaned and a release a few days ago said that more details on the situation will be made available at a 5 p.m. meeting of the Box Elder School Board tonight.

“Thank you to the Chippewa-Cree Housing Authority and Public Health Department for working with Box Elder Schools after the report of a foreign substance contamination in our building,” the release said. “The school has been in communication with tribal departments, Hill County Health Department, Sanitation Department and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality throughout the day.”

The release said that the school was decontaminated by a DEQ approved contractor Saturday.

No information has been released on what the foreign substance mentioned in the Thursday announcement is, but a later release said tonight’s board meeting should offer more specific details, details it could not produce before due to “privacy rights.”