Local schools to remain open for now

Public schools in Flathead County will remain open “at this point” in time as school administrators continue to monitor the potential threat of a coronovirus outbreak.

School superintendents throughout the valley participated in a conference call with the Montana Office of Public Instruction Friday morning and also were in contact with the Flathead City-County Health Department as they assessed the situation.

“Neither the Montana Office of Public Instruction nor the Flathead City-County Health Department is recommending that we close schools currently,” Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Mark Flatau said Friday afternoon in a press release. “Therefore, our schools remain open at this time.

“However, we are using this opportunity to plan and communicate with all our families,” Flatau said. “There are currently no confirmed coronavirus cases in Montana, but we are aware that may change as more testing kits become available to our state health-care facilities. This situation remains very fluid, with our schools receiving information daily and sometimes hourly. We will continue to meet with area school districts and our Flathead City-County Health Department because our communities are interconnected.”

The global outbreak of coronavirus, now deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has forced local schools to cancel upcoming spring break student trips largely across the board.

For Kalispell Public Schools, Flathead High School’s spring break trip to Costa Rice and Kalispell Middle School’s trip to England have both been postponed, and the groups are looking at possible future options, Flatau said.

The Flathead High School Choir trip to Canada has been canceled.

“We have suspended the high school attendance incentive,” Flatau noted. “Our high school principals will be working with staff and students in explaining the impacts of this decision. We encourage students or staff who are sick to stay home and follow health-care standards for care.”

Bigfork Schools Superintendent Matt Jensen affirmed during a March 11 board meeting that unless a case of coronavirus was confirmed within the Bigfork School District, school doors would continue to stay open. Jensen noted that Bigfork Schools have the capability to continue classes online for students in grades 5 through 12, but would not be able to facilitate virtual learning for lower grade levels.

On Friday, parents of third- and fourth-grade students received an email from principal Brenda Clarke notifying them that their students would be bringing home a technology checkout form for them to sign. The form stated that students may be bringing home school-issued devices in the event of a campus closure.

The district sent a letter to parents of Bigfork students in all grade levels March 6, regarding the school’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The letter stated Bigfork Schools would be closely monitoring updates from the CDC and was in frequent communication with the Flathead City-County Health Department.

On March 11 the Bigfork School Board voted to postpone a 10-day school trip to Europe over spring break and to buy refund vouchers from eight seniors and four parent chaperones who would no longer be eligible to participate the following spring.

The Whitefish School District said Friday its technology team is currently working on a Remote Schooling Plan. A survey is being sent out to all families to determine student access to technology outside of school, and families were asked to quickly return the survey.

“In the event of school closures, options for our students who need free or reduced-cost meals will be available,” Whitefish Superintendent Heather Davis Schmidt said in an advisory to parents.

“We will continue to communicate with you regularly and appreciate your support and partnership to keep our community healthy...” she said. “The emergence of the new coronavirus has created challenges for us all. We appreciate that you are contending with the implications of the disease outbreak within your own family. We want to update you on the steps we are taking in Whitefish Schools as we plan for the broader implications for our staff and families.

“This situation is very fluid and our school leaders and staff are planning for possible school interruptions due to the outbreak,” Davis Schmidt said.

The advisory from Whitefish schools noted that for any family who travels to locations on the Centers for Disease Control travel alert website, students must not return to school and self-quarantine for 14 days.

Whitefish schools on Friday canceled a varsity band school trip to Disneyland that was scheduled for late April.

“We are currently waiting to hear news from DECA about the trip to Nashville, and we anticipate this will be canceled as well,” Davis Schmidt said in her advisory. “This is disappointing for our students and staff, but the smart choice, coming from a genuine desire to protect our children and families from exposure to this disease.

Stillwater Christian School Head of School Jeremy Marsh said that private school in Kalispell is planning to reopen on March 30 following spring break.

“We are actively planning for the possibility of a school closure but have not yet made any decisions,” Marsh told the Inter Lake, adding that Stillwater Christian will follow the advice of the City-County Health Department.

“What I’ve communicated via email [to families] is that we’re planning [in the event of a school closure due to coronovirus] that students would still be in school mode and teachers would be directing that learning virtually through systems already in place for distance learning or what we’re putting in place,” Marsh said.

Stillwater Christian has canceled student overseas spring break trips to Europe and Indonesia, and Marsh said the school has asked families to voluntarily share if they’re planning to leave the area during the break.

Columbia Falls schools also will remain open at this time, although spring break band trips to Spokane and New York City have been canceled.

Columbia Falls Superintendent Steve Bradshaw issued a letter to parents Friday afternoon, noting that although no school closures are currently planned, teachers are preparing instructional materials to meet student learning needs at home if the buildings do close. The district asked parents to alert school officials if their child doesn’t have internet access or a computer for home use.

The Columbia Falls district has added nursing staff to provide immediate support for students and staff, and custodial staff have been added so that every building is being cleaned and disinfected every day. The high school attendance policy has been suspended through April 3.

Columbia Falls schools will require any staff or student returning from a CDC designated Level 3 location to stay home for 14 days after returning home.

The Montana Office of Public Instruction said Friday OPI staff are in communication with the Governor’s Office as the coronavirus situation evolves. The agency has also submitted a waiver request to the USDA to allow school nutrition flexibility so that children can still receive meals.

OPI has participated in calls with the U.S. Department of Education and will seek waivers and extensions to federal requirements for local districts as necessary.

Flathead Valley Community College will begin offering as many classes as possible remotely, effective March 30. Students enrolled in hands-on courses like welding and gold smithing will attend class on campus as usual.

“Any classes that we can offer remotely will be offered remotely to students in real time,” FVCC President Jane Karas said Friday. The school will be making accommodations to students without internet access, including allowing those students to attend class on campus or to use the school’s computer lab. Karas said details were still being finalized as of Friday and that she planned to notify students this week and early next week.

“We are committed to supported educational progress of our students and minimizing disruptions to their lives wherever and whenever possible,” Karas said.

The college is also ramping up efforts to clean and sanitize the campus, while making anti-bacterial and disinfectant supplies readily available.

“We have been taking extra sanitation measures, certainly, and cleaning more often,” FVCC President Jane Karas said Friday. She went on to explain that the school will be guiding future decisions based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Flathead City-County Health Department to ensure the safety of students and staff. Based on talks with the county health department, Karas said campus events will go on as scheduled, unless the health department or CDC recommend otherwise. While events are moving forward, the college did made the decision to cancel their study abroad program in Venice, Italy in early March.

News Editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com. Reporter Mackenzie Reiss contributed to this report.