Whitewater opens school; Saco, Malta, and Dodson delay starts

The students at Whitewater Public Schools made their triumphant return to in-school classes on Monday of this week, but the other public schools in Phillips County have pushed their start dates as they deal with the COVID-19 virus that hit the area two weeks ago.

Dodson

The Dodson Public School’s School Board held a special meeting last week and it was decided to delay classes beginning this week and have scheduled a special board meeting on Wednesday, September 2. At that time will assess the COVID-19 risks and make a definitive decision to go to remote learning or reopen for in-school classes.

Malta

The Malta Public School’s School Board also held a meeting last week, and while the members of the board were in person, nearly 100 parents attended the meeting via the web application Zoom. It was decided at the meeting to postpone the start of school in Malta to Wednesday, August 26. Like the rest of the schools in Montana, Malta Schools is currently in Stage B of Montana Governor Steve Bullock’s reopening plan. That plan states that facial coverings must be worn on school grounds and buses.

Saco

Saco Public Schools also pushed back their start date by one week and students will return to school on Wednesday, August 26 following two days of PIR days for Saco’s staff.

“The school wishes to thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we deal with recent changes due to COVID-19,” Saco Public Schools Superintendent Tanya Funk said.

COVID-19 in the County and State

On Monday morning, it was announced that the total confirmed cases in Montana had reached 5,792 with a total of 1,548 active cases, meaning 4,162 people have recovered from the COVID-19 virus.

As of Sunday evening, in Phillips County, there were no new positive cases of COVID-19 but there was one active hospitalization, according to the Phillips County Health Department. There has been a total of 93 positive cases of COVID-19 in Phillips County, 35 of those are active, and 58 have recovered. The health department updates their numbers each night and those press releases can be found on their Facebook page.

As of Monday afternoon, Yellowstone County has a total of 648 active cases, the most in Montana, and 853 people have recovered from COVID-19. There have also been a total of 32 deaths in Yellowstone County.

The only other county in Montana with over 100 active COVID-19 cases is Big Horn County where there are 231 active cases, 284 people have recovered, and 14 people have died.

The only two counties in Montana that have not had any confirmed COVID-19 cases are Carter and Petroleum.