COLUMBIA FALLS — Columbia Falls Middle School has transitioned to remote learning for the remainder of the school week after 10 staff members are out due to positive COVID-19 cases or are in quarantine due to a close contact to a positive case.
Columbia Falls Schools Superintendent Dave Wick tells MTN News the middle school does not have enough substitutes to cover the staffing shortage and may remain in remote learning beyond this week.
Wick says COVID-19 is causing issues district-wide with three Kindergarten classrooms from Glacier Gateway Elementary School and roughly 60 students in quarantine.
Wick says 65 middle school students and more than 100 high school students are also currently quarantined due to close contacts with a confirmed positive COVID-19 case.
He added that the district will determine the need to transition to remote leaning on a classroom by classroom, school by school basis. moving forward.
“The two reasons that we would close would be the inability to staff and secondly the inability to manage all the close contacts in a particular school, it’s unlikely to see a full district closure unless all of those circumstances happen at each building,” said Wick.
Wick says the district will make a decision by Friday on whether the middle school will remain in remote learning beyond this week.