At least three Montana school districts are taking advantage of a two-day school break for statewide educator conferences this week to hold remote classes or close for a few days to help prevent further cases of COVID-19.

The Darby school district also announced it was switching to remote learning on Tuesday and Wednesday due to staff shortages.

“Unfortunately, Darby School has reached a point where we do not have enough employees to operate the school,” Superintendent Chris Toynbee wrote to families on Monday. “We lack teachers, paraprofessionals and bus drivers and we don’t have enough substitutes to continue to keep our doors open.”

No public school classes will be held statewide on Thursday and Friday due to the annual educator conferences.
Glasgow Superintendent Wade Sundby announced last Friday that classes would not be held Monday through Wednesday.

“Due to substitute shortages in the Glasgow School District, we are unable to provide a high-quality education for our students,” he wrote on the school district website.

In Livingston, the school board voted last week to hold middle and high school classes virtually beginning on Oct. 13, in part to give county health officials time to contact trace COVID-19 cases.

All three schools are scheduled to return to in-person learning next Monday, though Toynbee added: “if our employees are healthy.”