BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Bozeman School District has a COVID-19 task force working to solidify the often hazy metrics the district has referred to since August.
The decision to start the group emerged out of consensus meetings the district began with teachers, administrators and a few board trustees in late-November to find coronavirus-related solutions after a few months of rising tensions between the groups.
Pat Strauss, the district’s human resources director, told the school board on Monday the task force came together quickly and includes teachers, administrators, Trustee Gary Lusin, Gallatin-City County Health Officer Matt Kelley, a local pediatrician and the district nurse Rebecca Spear.
During several meetings spanning last week and this week, the group has worked to determine what the triggers would be to cause a move to a different model of learning.
Strauss said it wouldn’t “force anything” but would be a way for the administration to bring a recommendation to the board on transitioning to a different learning phase. He described it as a way to “wave the flag” to trustees and that any decision would ultimately be theirs.
“It’s really a tool that allows us to have a conversation when it’s needed,” Strauss said.
The process has involved finding a way to balance data from the state and Gallatin County with the schools’ own internal data.
“If you’re only looking at Gallatin County and the state data, that’s absent what’s going on in our schools,” Strauss said.
Chad Berg, special education director with the district, said it’s important to show the school-specific data in the context of what’s happening in the county.
Lusin, the board member involved in the task force, said he’s communicated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommended prioritizing local data in the schools.
The group isn’t only looking at worst-case scenarios but is also considering what the data would need to look like before moving forward with more in-person learning.
“The purpose here is not to purely say we’re headed in the wrong direction but doing the optimistic work of when our numbers are looking good, coming to the board and saying it looks like we should go to five days across the district,” Strauss said.
While the elementary schools are in five days of in-person learning, the transition for the middle schools will be reevaluated in January and the high schools are scheduled to transition on Jan. 25, unless the board decides otherwise.
“It’s been really good for the whole team to hear that even from our medical team and Gallatin County Health Office that they really understand the importance of having kids in schools,” said Strauss, adding the group has also had good discussions around the emotional needs of students.
He said the health care workers involved in the task force were impressed with the data the district was collecting.
Tami Phillippi, president of the Bozeman Education Association, said she was also impressed with the level of internal data the district had.
“Teachers are just really glad we’re having these discussions. They feel some relief about that,” she said.
Casey Bertram, deputy superintendent of curriculum and technology, told the board on Monday the district had its own data on students and staff in quarantine, students and staff with COVID-19, classes and schools that have gone remote and social-emotional surveys.
Those would be combined with the county-wide data to create a matrix the board could use in making future decisions, he said.
Bertram said there have been other things to come out of the task force meeting besides a focus on metrics.
He said the solution is often better communication. There were many things the district was doing, including hiring more custodians, that teachers and staff weren’t aware of.
“Once we communicated that, it relieved stress,” he said.
