Powder River Examiner -

By Broadus Schools Superintendent Jim Hansen

The last couple years have certainly been my most difficult as a superintendent. Providing education already has its unique issues, but COVID has given all of us a new set of challenges. Trustees updated or adopted 78 board policies last year, most of which were related to COVID. With all these changes it is becoming difficult to recall what all our policies actually are, let alone trying to abide by all of them. The more rules and regulations we have the more difficult it becomes to enforce and regulate. When we finally get too many rules it then requires an attorney to interpret the rules, who then locates other rules that contradict our rules. When I first arrived at Powder River County District High School, the student handbook was only three pages and printed on a manilla folder. Now we have a 39-page document. Parents and students today must be better at digesting all these rules and information.

I am tired of COVID and all that it has brought with it. However, I can assure you that we will do our best to make this school year as “normal” as possible. The good news is our students now each have a Chromebook, we were able to use Federal ESSER funds to pay our levy, complete some heating and ventilation work, replace windows, and offer some additional mental health services for our students and staff. The past couple years have been difficult on everybody. We are thankful for all your support, stay the course and we will all get through this together.

Our staff is excited to provide a quality education to the students of Powder River County. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 436-2658.