Columbia Falls junior high goes to remote learning after 10 staffers impacted by coronavirus

Columbia Falls School District 6 announced the junior high would go to remote learning at least temporarily after 10 staff members either tested positive to coronavirus or were under quarantine due to a close contact with someone who had the virus.

“We have 10 staff members out of school due to  illness, cases, and quarantines.  Our plan has been that the inability to staff our buildings could potentially be a reason for closure.  We are now at that juncture. As a result, we are going to full remote learning until at least the end of this week.   Students will be contacted virtually by their teachers starting tomorrow (Tuesday).   On Friday, we will inform parents and students regarding our schedule for next week,” Superintendent Dave Wick said in a voicemail sent to parents Monday night.

The district has seen a flurry of cases in the past few days. In addition to the junior high announcement, Glacier Gateway Elementary has two kindergarten classes out and high school principal Scott Gaiser has been under quarantine as well after someone in his household contracted coronavirus.

He was quarantined on Oct. 30, but said he had no symptoms in an emailed letter to parents. He participated in Monday night’s board meeting via Zoom videoconference.

On Monday alone, Wick sent out letters informing parents that another person had tested positive at the high school and two more at Gateway.

The school board Monday night expressed concern about the ability of the Flathead City County Health Department’s ability to do contact tracing of school cases, since it’s seeing a massive workload due to new cases countywide.

But school officials said they had discussions with the health department and it told them that schools and hospitals are still a top priority.

The health department did, however, warn that not all cases would be traced outside of priority areas like schools.

“In order to manage the mounting workload, case investigators are now focusing their efforts on contacting and quarantining close contacts that belong to higher risk groups, such as the elderly, immunocompromised individuals, and those who work in restaurant, school, or healthcare settings,” the department said in a press release on Nov. 5.

“Our case numbers are outpacing our staff’s capacity,” Tamalee St. James Robinson, Interim Health Officer added. “We’re seeing widespread community transmission stemming from social gatherings, large events, and restaurants and bars. Our department is utilizing all possible resources to manage the surge, but the community needs to continue doing their part to help mitigate the spread.”

Wick said that at the high school, the number of people quarantined as of Thursday was 67, but since then the school has added about 60 more people.

Since school started, about 32 percent of the high school student population has been quarantined at one point or another. Though the number of students infected, at least as of Thursday, was quite low — about 3% of the population.

Countywide, there’s more than 1,070 active cases and more are added everyday.

Statewide, 470 people are currently hospitalized and 457 people have died.