On Monday night, June 29, and again on July 6, the Chinook Schools’ Reopening Committee met with local school board members to discuss the fall reopening strategies in response to COVID-19. Although no action was taken during either meeting, the group is developing a reopening plan for Chinook School District during the 2020-21 school year. This plan will be presented to the School Board in August.

“We had a couple of good meetings and designed a tentative plan. It is a comprehensive one, so I don’t have the document complete yet,” Chinook School’s Superintendent Darin Hannum reported. “However, if anyone has suggestions, we ask that you reach out to one of the committee members. Although our Zoom meetings are open to the public and everyone is welcome to listen, we’re not taking public comment during the meetings themselves.”

Those attending the meetings heard a variety of ideas and confronted varying comfort levels. For example, some teachers are requesting Plexiglas shields at their desks to more safely interact with students and some parents want to see everyone wearing masks.

Hannum went on to say that “unless there is an all-out shut down or a Governor’s Directive, school will be in session, whatever that looks like. We’re hoping that before the school year begins, the State will be in Phase III, giving us a little more flexibility.”

Hannum added: “We’re prepared to socially distance, provide the essential sanitizing, and meet all health guidelines, but we need to be in school since educationally, some of our students have slipped behind. Our plan this past spring worked as best as we could expect, but without that extra teacher support, many students just didn’t turn in their assigned work.”

Individuals interested in sharing their thoughts or giving input should contact one of the committee members: Frank Billmayer, Scott DePriest, Kevin Elias, Tammy Edwards, Shandel Fouts, Jill Paulsen, Laura Kellam, Paula Molyneaux, Julie Terry, Shane Bartschi, Matt Molyneaux, Don Swenson, Jana McPhersen-Hauer and Darin Hannum.

The group is looking for three additional community volunteers to sit on the committee. Anyone interested is encouraged to contact Hannum by calling Chinook High School at 357-2236 or emailing hannumd@chinookschools.org.

In other news, Hannum reported that the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, June 30, that states must allow religious schools to participate in programs that provide scholarships to students attending private schools, a decision that opened the door to more public funding of religious education.

In Espinoza versus the Montana Department of Revenue, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 vote, against Montana. The ruling effectively killed state constitutional provisions in as many as 37 other states that bar taxpayer aid to parochial schools. Until now, state constitutional provisions have limited state aid to religious schools to one degree or another, with the Montana Constitution expressly prohibiting public funds from benefiting religious schools.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority in the case, said that that provision of Montana’s Constitution ran contrary to the federal Constitution’s protection of the free exercise of religion by discriminating against religious people and schools. “A state need not subsidize private education, but once it decides to do so it cannot disqualify some private schools because they are religious,” he wrote.

Therefore, the tax credit created by the Montana Legislature to benefit students attending qualifying private schools, including religious ones, must stand as originally designed.

“It will be interesting to see how school funding will be affected by this new ruling,” Hannum said.