HELENA — Townsend Public Schools has called a Special School Board Meeting to address the number of students and staff that are currently out of school related to COVID-19.
Townsend K-12 Schools has around 680 students according to school officials. Superintendent Susie Hedalen told parents in a letter Tuesday that the school currently has 162 student absences related to COVID. There are 115 absences reported in grades K-6, 27 in grades 7 and 8, and 20 in grades 9-12.
“Many employees and students are vaccinated; however, both are still testing positive, requiring a ten-day quarantine. Unfortunately, the school has been required to quarantine classrooms, teams, staff and groups of students of various ages. We have all been working hard to pitch in and deal with staffing shortages and have not had to close any schools or grade levels due to being short-staffed, but we have come close.,” wrote Hedalen in her letter to parents.
The school district reports seven staff are absent from the school related to COVID-19.
The Special School Board Meeting will be held Thursday, September 23, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Room at the school.
Editors note: The previous version of this article used the estimate for total students based upon theNation Center for Education Statistics data. The article has been updated reflecting data provided by the school.
