The Havre School Board Tuesday night denied two requests to allow bus routes between local districts. But board members then requested that meetings be held with leaders of those districts to talk about the future of student exchanges.
The first request was presented by Sandra Monteau, a grandmother of students on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation on behalf of a list of nearly 30 parents and grandparents.
They wanted to know if the Havre district could bring a bus down to the Rocky Boy Agency parking lot to bring students to Havre schools.
Monteau told the board that she remembered catching buses to Havre before there was a Rocky Boy school district, and that she, and others, wanted the same opportunity for new generations.
“Many parents who become grandparents made sure their grandchildren went to Havre schools, ” Monteau said.
She added that more help in that area alleviates some crowding of the reservation’s 900 students.
“Many go to Box Elder. Many go to Havre, ” Monteau said. “If we kept all of the kids, we wouldn’t have enough room. ”
Trustee Curtis Smeby told the rest of the board that this request was a sign of Havre Public Schools’ quality.
“I guess I don’t know what we’re scared of, ” Smeby said. “I believe we have a quality district, and if people want to come here, that’s fantastic. ”
Superintendent Andy Carlson, who recommended that the board deny the request, said he agreed about the district’s draw, but that isn’t the only consideration.
“I believe in the product we have at Havre Public Schools, and we have to make sure what we offer is a high- quality product, ” Carlson said. “What I want is consistency.
“I do not believe we should enter another district’s boundary if we don’t allow them into our district boundary. ”
The district denied a request from the North Star district to pick up students within Havre’s area last night, as it has for many years.
Requests have also come in, and been denied, to allow buses to take students from Havre to the Rocky Boy Schools.
Since the superintendent doesn’t want to allow some district interactions allowed and not others, the board requested that Carlson set up meetings with other district leaders to talk about what agreements could be reached.
Though, in setting up those meetings, Carlson is worried about buses picking up students all over the place.
“There needs to be restrictions, ” Carlson said. “There’s always a bus stop six miles further that’s more convenient. ”
“An agreement like that needs to be equitable for every district involved. ”
