Lincoln School Board hears football eligibility & substitute teacher issues, Sculpture Park update

As Lincoln School headed into Homecoming week, the premature end to the Lincoln High School football season and difficulties in finding substitute teachers both saw extensive discussion at the Lincoln School board meeting Monday Oct. 11.

Lincoln Schools Athletic Director Shane Brown said football season started off with high expectations but circumstances such as COVID-19 and poor practice attendance affected players eligibility to the point the team couldn't be sustained

"We're to the point now where kids have, through the eligibility policy, failed off," he said. "We don't have the numbers and the time to get the practices in to make that happen."

After canceling or rescheduling six games, they chose to cancel the remainder of the season.

Academic struggles have been an issue for some student athletes, but Brown said the school has programs in place to help, such as the Zero Zeros program, which is mandatory for kids missing work. He said there is a teacher assigned to the program, but students can also reach out to other teachers for extra help in specific subjects.

"In looking back and trying to retrace what has happened, it's basically come down to just not turning assignments in," Brown said. He said kids who are having issues in multiple classes end up in perpetual "catch up" mode. Art teacher April Erickson noted it's not always that kids aren't trying. She said some have circumstances in their home life that added to their academic issues during the recent COVID school closure. She mentioned one student who went to Zero Zeros every day but had a hard time getting caught up after falling so far behind.

Lincoln Schools Superintendent Jen Packer agreed that circumstances this year have been an issue. "It's a hard thing when you only have six or seven players and you have a few that are ineligible, and it takes away the whole team. That's why it seems like such a big deal."

Brown said there is a student exploring possible changes to the language of the school's current three strikes policy and looking into possible changes to its language to find different ways to address it. He may try to get on the school board agenda for next month, but is aware any changes, if approved, won't happen during this school year.

School board member Ken Lumpkin said they can look at eligibility policies in other districts, since some are just as restrictive as Lincoln while others are far less so.

Turning to school staffing issues, Packer discussed the availability fo substitute teachers, which has become more of an issue due to the COVID-19.

"We have a lot on our list (of potential substitutes), but we don't have a lot who actually say yes when we call," she said. From a list of 15 names, there are only three they regularly count on.

Packer said they usually have more than one sub in the school for three of the four school days every week. Part of that is currently due to COVID-19 quarantine requirements amid the regular illnesses that are making their rounds at the school. She explained that staff members who go to the doctor with an illness are administered a rapid COVID test if they have any possible COVID-19 symptoms. If the rapid test comes back negative, it's not treated as such until it's verified by the state lab, which can take several days. In the meantime, teachers are required to stay home.

"That's taking up some of them," she said.

Packer encouraged the board to think of ways to address the substitute issue. She said there has been discussion about possibly giving subs a bonus at the end of the year, if they've covered a certain number of days. Another idea to help was a possible incentive for teachers to not use their personal days.

School board president Aaron Birkholz asked if COVID money is available to hire a roving staff member. While no one wants to disincentivize substitutes who do show up, Packer said they've discussed possibly hiring a full-time "permanent sub." Birkholz noted that even if that person didn't have to work as a sub every day, they could serve as an extra paraprofessional.

School clerk Carol Williams said money is available that could be used for that, and Packer wondered where they might find someone for the position.

Pre-K teacher Danielle Fry suggested contacting schools with teaching programs. She said some of the individuals who graduate in the fall might like the experience, rather than just waiting until schools begin their hiring cycles next year.

On a more positive note, Annette Gardner provided the board with an update on this year's Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild education program.

Sculpture in the Wild typically invites about nine schools from around the nearby areas to take part in the program during the fall residencies, but only four were able to do so this year, due to COVID. Nevertheless, she said several other schools who aren't part of the regular rotation also visited the park.

Gardner stressed the importance for local Lincoln students, who impressed visiting artists with their knowledge of art.

"You forget how amazing it is that we live where we live; that our kids can walk five or ten minutes and be in the woods in an internationally acclaimed park. The opportunities our kids have...you just forget how cool that is," she said, and thanked the school board, administration and teachers for being patient and flexible with their schedules during the annual residencies.

Her update did bring to light one concern. Brown wondered why BPSW hadn't kept the school informed of the plan for the new utility building near the sculpture park toilets. He recalled an early agreement with the school board that they would provide regular updates. Lincoln School has a vested interest in the park, which is on DNRC property. It has held the primary easement on the land since the 1990's, when there were plans to build a new school to accommodate the community growth expected had the McDonald Gold Project moved forward.

The meeting ended after the board dealt with a series of required school policy updates that came down from the Montana School Board Association, driven by recent legislative changes.