Glasgow Schools Work On Moving Forward To Reopen

As Glasgow families start getting ready for the first day of school, Wednesday, Aug. 26, and as students have started practices for their fall sports, parents and students will notice changes as their children enter the classroom and the field for the new school year.

With discussions around the country of either canceling fall sports all together or postponing the sports to spring, at the regular school board meeting on Aug. 12, during the board comment period Chair Mona Amundson expressed concern regarding what Glasgow sports will look like with confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county and surrounding counties. Superintendent Wade Sundby stated Montana High League (MHSA) executive director Mark Beckman pushed the issue back to local control in a recent conference call while athletic director Brenner Flaten stated there has been no discussion in Montana regarding the changes of fall sports, from what he has heard or gathered.

“I think that what makes high school so much different than college is you’re talking about colleges that host a hundred thousand people in a stadium and they travel all across the country. It’s really apples to oranges as far as the virus goes,” Flaten stated.

Flaten also applauded coaches at both the middle and high school level for the fall sports and stated how determined they are to make the season work and be successful for the student athletes, despite the challenges that will be faced. “We’re gonna forge forward, make sure we make the right decisions and realize that everybody’s dealing with the same thing that we’re dealing with,” he stated.

He also recognized the concern regarding how the community will be able to safely watch the sports as spectators. For volleyball, additional bleachers will be utilized with a designated home section (the north side of the gym) and away section (south side of the gym) so home and visiting fans can’t sit together. A similar outline will be utilized for football with the addition of approximately 138 parking sports around Scottie field, allowing more people to view the game from their vehicle. The grandstand will be specifically for home fans only and additional portable bleachers will be set up on the east side of the field for visitor fans.

“We’re really fortunate that we have all the space that we do around our facility that we’re able to implement the vehicles,” Flaten stated.

On Aug. 14, Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital medical staff released a letter asking the community to “consider delaying, cancelling or withholding participating in athletics to keep our schools open for educational experiences” as “participation in athletics effectively negates the cohort plans within our respective schools. ”(The full letter can be read on page 2A).

“It would be nobody’s surprise that I value activities,” Flaten told the Courier. “I think the fall season is important to the mental and emotional health of high school and middle school athletes.” He stated the school district has been consistent in efforts to mitigate risks to students and spectators of the virus. Flaten also expressed he has been in constant contact with the other 12 Northern B schools to discuss plans for the season and all of the schools are planning to go forward with the season.

At press time, practices have started for both the high school and middle school level, and Red and White games for both high school football and volleyball are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22, with game action for vollyeball starting at 5 p.m. and football action starting at 6 p.m.

As students prepare to return to the classroom, they will also see differences. During the Aug. 6 meeting, the Glasgow School Board passed a policy stating that students will need to wear a mask in school.

At Irle, classrooms will be in their cohort group all day and will only go to recess with their grade level. Students will sanitize upon entering the classroom and each classroom will have disinfectant products for classroom teachers to sanitize. Desks will be spaced three feet apart and face one direction and teachers will maintain a current seating chart for contact tracing purposes. Students and/or teachers will sanitize desks, chairs and work areas when students leave the classroom and during transition periods. During lunch, students/teachers will also sanitize desks before and after eating. Parents, guardians and visitors will be refrained from entering the building and those that need access must call the Irle School office to schedule a 10-minute appointment.

At the middle and high school level, a custodian will be on staff throughout the day wiping down common surfaces that are touched and hand sanitizer stations will be at every entrance, every restroom and classroom. In addition to wearing a mask inside of the building, students will also need to sanitize their hands upon entering. At the middle school, students need to be masked during any transition and the middle school is working on a staggered release plan to lessen crowding. At the high school, students will transition in a loop during all classes, with the loop starting at room one, going west in the South hallway and walk past the business rooms, north in the west hallway and east in the north hallways.

At the middle school, Chromebooks will be checked out to all students that are attending school and to those remote learners that do not have a Chromebook, while Chromebooks will be checked out to students at the high school who do no have a laptop available to bring to and from school. Remote learners at both schools will be required to attend class during the scheduled class time and teachers will take attendance.

“We’re on the right track, we just need to be flexible. We need to be understanding. We need to do what’s best for the staff, students and our community and the district,” stressed Sundby at the Aug. 12 board meeting.