Nonetheless, Tom’s remarks were filled with gratitude. He pointed out that, in spite of the pandemic, Great Falls voters supported the mill levy request. Excellent community members have stepped up to serve on the school board, including Rotarians Mark Finnicum and Bill Bronson. The legislature, thanks in part to the leadership of Rotarian Fred Anderson, also enacted legislation that provides schools with funding for educating handicapped students past the age of 18. Great Falls has been doing that for years because it's the right thing to do, but it comes with a cost and the funding is much-needed.  

 

The community supported Tom and the board when they decided to open the schools last fall. “Kids would have been hurt if we hadn’t,” Tom noted. In fact, test results show that when the schools shut in the spring to curb the spread of COVID-19, documented losses in learning occurred. Even with the schools open and available virtually and in person this year, there is a need for what Tom calls “the 3 R’s” – remediation, re-engagement, and re-integration.

 

Remediation will be needed to close the learning gaps, but there is also a need to re-engage students in learning after more than a year of off-again/on-again virtual and in-person learning and disrupted classroom experiences. There is also a need to re-integrate students into the full educational experience. Some 200 students are simply unaccounted for – they aren’t enrolled in GFPS but also don’t show up on home school or private school roles.

 

After outlining the planned use of CARES and ARPA funds (called ESSER funding), Superintendent Moore praised the administration, staff, and faculty that have made a challenging year so gratifying. Taking a line from Theodore Roosevelt, he said his philosophy is to “pick good [people] to do what needs to be done and do not meddle with them while they do it.”