NOTICE

BUDGET MEETING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that a meeting will be held by the Board of Trustees of Elementary School District 17H and High School District 1 on the second Tuesday in August, August 10, 2021, at 5:30 pm in the District Administration Office, 401 Park Road, Hardin, Montana, for the purpose of considering and adopting the final budgets of the Districts. The meeting may be continued from day-to-day until the final adoption of the Districts’ budgets and any taxpayer in the districts may appear at such meeting and be heard for or against any part of the budgets.

Dated this 20th day of July, 2021.

Kym Kern, District Clerk

SAFE RETURN TO SCHOOL & CONTINUITY OF SERVICES PLAN

JULY 20, 2021 TO BE REVIEWED AND REVISED AS NECESSARY

A) SCHOOLS

a. All schools open to onsite, direct instruction by teachers effective the first day of school

b. Remote instruction NOT available at this time other than what was pre-COVID allowable...credit recovery, possible dual credit/enrollment, AP coursework, etc.

c. Students quarantined due to COVID will receive packets and/or alternatives to onsite instruction as determined by the schools much the same way extended leaves are handled.

d. Remote instruction available under limited circumstances for the newly proposed "instructional academy"

e. Mask requirements will be lifted; however, masks can be worn by students/staff at their own prerogative and encouraged/recommended by those not fully vaccinated, BUT NOT REQUIRED!

f. Social distancing will be encouraged by students and staff; if not possible, students/staff are encouraged/recommended to wear masks if NOT fully vaccinated, BUT NOT REQUIRED!

g. ALL ACTIVITIES are encouraged and expected to return to "normal" keeping in mind that participants and spectators DO THEIR PART to continue to use prevention strategies as outlined by the CDC.

B) SCHOOL NUTRITION

a. Breakfast in the classroom returns to "normal" procedures pre-COVID (quite similar/same as 2020-21)

b. "Normal" hot lunch service is expected to return when school starts in August; however, due to limitations in staffing, the menus may change on short or little notice and the service may NOT look the same each day!

C) TRANSPORTATION

a. All buses are expected to run in the same capacity as pre-COVID... routes and times will be quite similar to the start of school year 2019-20.

b. Bus enrollment forms WILL STILL BE REQUIRED this year!

c. NOTICE - as of now, it is required by the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT that masks be worn on all public transportation, which includes school buses. We are awaiting further guidance and direction from both the state and federal levels.

D) POLICY & PROCEDURE

a. Lunch procedures may return to "normal" at HHS; allowing lunch hours at the high school to return to original practices, as they were pre-COVID... this will be determined at the HHS level.

b. Continued suspension of POLICY #3141 (Discretionary Nonresident Student Attendance Policy / FP-14) and reviewed upon the start of the 2nd quarter.

c. Facility use agreements can be reinstated effective immediately.

d. The additional 5 minutes/day of instruction remains in place; it can be used for loss of instructional time if necessary.

e. Nonessential visitors should be limited

E) CONTINUED REVIEW OF ALL PROCEDURES & POLICIES WITH STATE AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES!

2021-22 School Year PUBLIC NOTICE

Dear Students, Staff, Parents and Community Members,

At the regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees of Hardin School Districts 17H & 1 on May 11, 2021, the following items were approved for the 2021-22 school year…

- School will start for ALL students ONSITE August 26, 2021 as previously adopted this past fall.

- Students/Staff will be in the buildings. Instruction will be provided FIVE (5) days a week, Monday through Friday for ALL students. There may be a slight adjustment in minutes to the day; however, those details will be developed this summer as schedules and handbooks are finalized by the Board of Trustees.

- Instruction will be delivered by Hardin School Districts 17H & 1 teachers ONSITE as was traditionally done BEFORE COVID-19 struck in March of 2020; there will be no ONLINE/REMOTE sessions available to start the year. It has been evident that our students/families AND staff need our students onsite to provide the best instructional opportunities available.

- Though bus routes have been running “normal” throughout most of this academic year, all buses will be running their normal routes with established times as they did BEFORE COVID-19.

- We fully intend to operate our school nutrition program as we did BEFORE COVID-19; a full breakfast in the classroom model and a complete hot lunch service mid-day. We will NOT be able to continue our current model of food service/delivery AND fulfill our meal obligations above as our school nutrition staff simply do not have enough hours in the day to meet all the obligations. However, with students ONSITE…the need for the current model is no longer necessary.

Please note that changes may occur throughout the summer, especially if things should change regarding the pandemic. Please pay close attention to our website and Facebook page for further information and procedural changes/updates in preparation for summer school and the start of the 2021-22 school year.

Respectfully,

Eldon C. Johnson, Supt
Hardin School Districts 17H & 1