GREAT FALLS — Great Falls Public Schools (GFPS) will resume in-class learning on Tuesday, after a week-long closure due to staff illness and a surge in COVID infections.
GFPS superintendent Tom Moore said in a Facebook video on Sunday evening that classes will resume on Tuesday, and said that masks are encouraged, but not required.
Moore also said that due to the increased need for substitute teachers, GFPS is adding $25 per day for substitute teachers. Non-certified substitutes will now be paid up to $115 a day, and certified substitutes will be paid $125 per day.
While Great Falls is familiar with remote learning, some parents are concerned about it. Several of them told MTN News that remote learning has its challenges, but they are making the most of it at their homes and getting through it week-by-week.
He actually likes the remote learning part of it. The likelihood of him having to do a presentation in front of the class is obsolete. And I’m super appreciative of the teachers who’ve had to change up how they teach completely between last year with a good portion of the school year being remote as well as the quick notification that they were going remote this last week," one parent said this regarding her son. "So, I really do appreciate their hard work and trying to make this work for all the students. I know that they do care about their students and it’s not easy for anybody.”
Parents know that plans like this can change at a moment’s notice. Remote learning has taught students and parents alike to be adjustable.
Staci Griffin is a parent of two students at Great Falls High School and wants her kids to get the most out of high school but understands that remote learning could happen at any point.
“I’m grateful that they’re independent workers and they’re good students. They don’t struggle so that makes it easier for us. I think they prepare them for it daily that this could potentially be a thing at the drop of a hat just like it did last week,” Griffin said. “I would rather have them in the classroom obviously especially with it being my son’s senior year. I don’t want him to miss out on all those activities and things. It’s not ideal but it’s better than nothing and I hope that if they have to continue to do it, it’s short-lived.”
