Schools move activities inside as air quality worsens

Schools across the Flathead Valley are hunkering down inside as recess, P.E. and sports practices are moved indoors as air quality worsens.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality air quality designation remained at “very unhealthy” Thursday, which is a step below “hazardous.” This designation means that everyone — especially children — should limit outdoor exertion, while sensitive groups (children or adults with respiratory conditions) should avoid all outdoor exertion.

Many school districts such as Bigfork, Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Whitefish are following the Flathead City-County Health Department website which links to the Montana DEQ. There are six air qualitydesignations — good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous.

Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Mark Flatau issued information to families and noted that when the air quality surpasses the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” designation recess will be held indoors.

Since the Flathead County air monitoring station is located in Columbia Falls, schools also look at outdoor visibility. Districts are also using visibility guidelines specific to school activities issued by the DEQ, Office of Public Instruction and Montana Department of Health and Human Services.

Bigfork School District Activities Coordinator Dave Creamer wrote in a recent school newsletter, “If we can see 9 miles, which is roughly the ability to see from the school over to Lakeside or see the top of the Swan Mountain Range, we know we can operate without any worries. Anything less than that and we have to make another decision.”

Columbia Falls School District Superintendent Steve Bradshaw said on Wednesday its schools started keeping students indoors.

“If we can only see out a mile we start to question what we do,” Bradshaw said. “No doubt we’re in the ‘very unhealthy’ designation and we’re not having anybody outside for recess, gym class or activities.”

Keeping students in and wildfire smoke out means shutting windows, and many buildings are not equipped with air conditioning or air filtration systems that draw out fine particulates found in wildfire smoke.

Whitefish School District Superintendent Heather Davis Schmidt said air handlers usually draw in night air to cool buildings, but aren’t necessarily equipped to capture the fine particulates. She said the intensity of the wildfire smoke has moved the district to look into whether it would be worth upgrading air filtration systems.

Whitefish schools are also evacuation sites.

“We’ve been working with Red Cross to update our agreement in the case we need to utilize our schools for evacuation sites,” Davis Schmidt said. “We don’t have any [fires] that are particularly close right now. The Eureka fire has really caused problems in that community. If those residents need to go to an evacuation site away from Eureka — we’re the next location.”

While she doesn’t anticipate a rush of evacuees any time soon, Davis Schmidt said it’s important to be prepared.

Wildfire smoke has made an impact on fall sports seasons as well.

Sports games have been canceled and rescheduling has been difficult as smoke blankets Northwest Montana.

“There’s just no place to go, we’re all trapped,” Columbia Falls Activities Director Troy Bowman said.

On Aug. 9, the Montana High School Association posted a memo online to help schools make decisions on postponing or canceling games during the wildfire season. According to memo, the fall season cannot be lengthened into the winter season, however, there isn’t a rule to prohibit scheduling two football games within a week, for example.

Glacier High School Activities Director Mark Dennehy said practices have been reduced in time and intensity as the smoke worsened. High-intensity drills were moved to the gym.

Whitefish Activities Director Aric Harris said sports practices have moved inside and to The Wave fitness center since Monday.

As a result, coaches have shifted training strategies.

“We’ve been utilizing classroom time doing a lot of tactical learning — watching game film,” Harris said. “Coaches are being really creative. We’re focusing on the fundamentals, the details.”

Seeding may prove to be problematic in post-season play if districts end up playing different amounts of games due to cancellations.

Creamer said that the highest priority is rescheduling high school varsity games in Bigfork School District since it determines playoff eligibility.

“Unfortunately, there is no way to predict with any certainty what the conditions might be in the future. We generally will make decisions as late as possible on whether to cancel a game or practice in case conditions improve,” Creamer stated in a letter to parents.

Voicing a similar sentiment by other districts, Creamer summed up the letter by writing, “This is a very unfortunate situation, and we hope the interruptions to activity schedules are minimal, but we all know this is an uncharacteristically bad year for fires in Montana. Please know that your son or daughter’s health and safety is our highest responsibility in these decisions. Thanks for your patience, flexibility and understanding.”

For more information on visibility guidelines and schools visit http://bit.ly/2eLgkm3. To view air quality conditions visit www.todaysair.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com