CRT, student and staff updates, election discussed

SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary School board addresses correspondence and received updates from Superintendent Josh Gibbs at their Feb. 22 meeting.

The school board received correspondence from a Seeley Lake resident and retired teacher asking if the school was teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT). The board reviewed the state Attorney General’s opinion on CRT that stated it was not to be taught in schools. Gibbs added the Office of Public Instruction gave them the same direction earlier in the year.

“It is nothing we are teaching in our schools at this time,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs explained that while Common CORE state standards do cover Indian Ed for All, they do not align with CRT. They are working on updating their social studies curriculum to ensure there is not question about that. At the board’s request, Gibbs said he will clarify with staff that they are not to be teaching anything related to CRT.

In his superintendent report, Gibbs said they had five confirmed cases of COVID last week. There have also been around five confirmed cases of Influenza A and a stomach bug that has kept students and staff out of school. As a precaution, they are still checking temperatures before students and staff enter the building. Temperatures are checked again if a student says they are not feeling well.

Gibbs said they are continuing to update the school improvement plan. Staff worked on developing a program for behavior expectations and a way to report incidences at their PIR day Thursday, Feb. 24. Gibbs said the goal is to track reoccurring behavior throughout the day with different teachers so it can be addressed.

Trustees Doc Welter and Gary Wayne’s positions are up for election in May. The deadline to file as a candidate with the Missoula Election Office is March 24 at 5 p.m. District Clerk Heather Mincey said based on her preliminary budget she does not expect that they need to run a levy. She and Gibbs are very pleased but will have the final report for the board at next month’s meeting.

Also on next month’s agenda is the school calendar, teacher contract negotiations and the permissive levy. The next meeting is March 15 at 5:30 p.m. in the Seeley Lake Elementary Tech Room.