Ruder project could get started sooner if schools stay closed
A teacher and students walk toward an exit that leads to a breezeway separating the two school buildings at Ruder Elementary School in Columbia Falls in this file photo.
Work on Ruder Elementary School could begin a month or so sooner, depending on directives on school closures by Gov. Steve Bullock in the next few days.
Bullock said in a press call last week that a gradual easing of restrictions caused by coronavirus could mean that individual schools could decide whether or not reopen.
“My recommendation is that we not open school,” superintendent Steve Bradshaw said during last week’s School District 6 board meeting. “We can’t put 500 kids in a building.”
He also noted that some parents would send their kids to school, and others wouldn’t.
The district would then have teachers trying to teach kids in class and teach kids remotely — not an ideal situation.
If School District 6 remains closed, however, that would allow crews from Swank Construction to begin the remodel of the Ruder and could, conceivably, put the project ahead of schedule.
Right now the district is in wait-and-see mode, pending a decision by Bullock.
In the meantime, the district also needs to figure out if it can hold some sort of graduation ceremony and what that would like.
State school superintendent Elsie Arntzen recently put out a memo telling schools that even if some restrictions are lifted, social distancing guidelines, where people should avoid large gatherings, are likely to last into the summer months.
In short, districts shouldn’t be cramming people into hot school gyms, where the virus could easily spread.
About half the counties in the state have reported cases of coronavirus, while others haven’t.
While the virus can make children ill, most younger people who do get it recover. But the district also has to worry about staff and the general public spreading the disease, as the schools are so large, transmission of the illness would be relatively easy.