School board discusses teacher standby list for vaccine

Distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is already underway in Montana and the state will soon transition from Phase 1A to IB, expanding the pool of individuals to be vaccinated beyond frontline workers and long-term care residents. But teachers, who were originally included in the 1B tier, have been bumped to 1C following revisions to the state plan by newly elected Gov. Greg Gianforte. However, Bigfork Schools is developing a plan that could mean vaccines sooner rather than later for educational staff.

In Flathead County, vaccination will occur on an appointment-only basis, and in the event that a time slot opens up on short notice, Bigfork Schools is discussing the possibility of granting last-minute leave to educators so they can obtain the vaccine.

“The county has a mission of getting as many shots in arms as possible and so we are trying to create a teacher standby list,” Superintendent Matt Jensen said during the Jan. 13 school board meeting. Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can be stored in ultra-cold temperatures for weeks, but once vials are opened, doses must be administered within six hours, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. So in the event a last-minute vaccination appointment becomes available, a Bigfork staff member could potentially fill that vacancy so the dose isn’t wasted and staff are vaccinated sooner rather than later.

“In the event they have an opening and they need somebody to fill that spot on short notice, then we’d have a list of people who could do that,” Jensen said. Getting the vaccine is not mandatory for school employees -- placement on a vaccine standby list would be voluntary.

Bigfork Schools, like other districts in the Flathead Valley, have faced staffing difficulties throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Teachers and students have been in and out of quarantine due to either contracting the virus or being identified as a close contact, and the pool of substitute educators is limited. To date, 25 staff members at Bigfork Schools have tested positive for the virus along with 57 students and 104 individuals are currently being quarantined, according to the school’s website, updated Jan. 19.

“Teachers just like everybody else have a right to choose to be vaccinated or not be vaccinated but in the profession, the reality is they have a lot of contacts,” Jensen said. “If you’re an elementary teacher and you’re in contact with 25 kids all day -- you’re basically in contact with 25 kids and their families. If you’re a high school teacher or middle school teacher, it’s not uncommon for you to see 100-plus students in a day.”

When staff or students rotate in and out of the classroom, it causes a disruption in the learning process. Oftentimes, teachers can continue to work remotely with the assistance of a substitute who is physically present in the classroom to help facilitate while the educator leads the class online. On other occasions, classes are led by substitute teachers on their own, which Jensen said simply isn’t the same.

“The more we can preserve that teacher-student contact … the more we are able to progress the students from one skill to the next,” he said.

The coronavirus vaccine could mean that relief is, at last, in sight for a school system that has had to be extraordinarily nimble over the past 10 months.

“I think this an exciting time for our community, for our country,” Jensen explained. “The opportunity for people to have the vaccine if they want to is definitely a game-changer for how we address everything we’ve been going through. It makes it realistic to think that we are in the fourth quarter of all of this effort.”