Berreth, Ophus face off for one-year Havre School Board term: Brandon Berreth

Longtime Havre Public Schools employee Brandon Berreth is vying for a seat on the Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees for a one year term, running against sitting board member Garritt Ophus.

Ophus was appointed to his seat earlier this year.

Berreth said he’s a team player and his experience as a supervisor in the school’s maintenance department, as well as his time coaching Special Olympics teams in the district, has taught him how important it is for people to work together as when it comes to the school system.

He said he knows most of the teachers and administrators, which is also a valuable asset, and has extensive knowledge of the buildings themselves.

Berreth said he knows his opponent to be a good man and a talented individual, but still sees himself as the better candidate.

He said he thinks his experience working for the schools, which he has done for virtually his entire working life after graduating from Havre High School, gives him perspective that his opponent may not have, given that he’s originally from Big Sandy.

However, he said, his opponent being from another town certainly doesn’t disqualify him from serving on the board, especially since he has children in the school system and therefore has a vested interest in the system’s success.

Berreth said his background in diesel technology has also provided him with a certain problem-solving mindset that may also be beneficial.

“I’m able to look at a problem and break it down to its individual components and find which isn’t working,” he said.

The biggest problem he sees for the schools at the moment is an inconsistent and changing schedule, which has thrown off many of the schools’ teachers.

He criticized the recent decision of the board to move back to a five-day-a-week schedule for grades kindergarten through fifth grade, which will begin this week.

He said it doesn’t make much sense to him to change the schedule so late in the year when teachers have largely found their footing and were working very well in the four-day-a-week schedule.

Berreth said such a dramatic change so late in the year was disruptive and he doesn’t think there will be much of a gain for students, considering how much time teachers have needed to retool their entire lessons plans to accommodate the change and how badly it has thrown them off.

He said he wants to see a five-day-a-week schedule return as much as anyone, but he would have preferred that such a decision be made over the summer so teachers could finish out the year with their lesson plans intact.

He said he feels similarly about masks, and thinks they should remain mandatory for the rest of the year so the board will have time to make an informed decision for next year when they have a better idea of where COVID-19 and vaccinations are at.

Despite this criticism he said he thinks the board over all has done a good job handling COVID-19 based on the information they had at the time.

“They kept open communication with the health department which is important, they followed CDC guidelines,” he said.

Berreth said he thinks school board members should be a visible part of the community, and he advocates that they engage in volunteer work when they can, especially for youth related-programs.

“I was raised in the tradition of excellence that Havre promotes and I’d like to see that continue. … The schools are building the future of our community and our country,” he said.

He said he wants to be available to the community and he will do his best to hear their concerns and answer their questions when he is able to.

I’m used to being on call, he said, my phone doesn’t shut off.