As classes get underway this week and next, Montana school and county health officials are grappling with how a new state law that bans vaccine discrimination should apply to quarantine orders for students and staffers exposed to covid-19.
It鈥檚 the latest fallout from the law that says businesses and governmental entities can鈥檛 treat people differently based on vaccination status. The law makes Montana that prohibits both public and private employers 鈥 including hospitals 鈥 from requiring workers to get vaccinated against covid.
Some state and county officials also interpret the law to mean that unvaccinated people can鈥檛 be ordered to quarantine over a covid exposure unless vaccinated people are, too. That interpretation goes against the for only unvaccinated people to quarantine in the event of a covid exposure.
The state law worries school officials who had planned to lean on the CDC guidelines to keep closures and disruptions to a minimum this fall after last school year鈥檚 fluctuating in-person, remote and hybrid classes.
Micah Hill, superintendent of Kalispell Public Schools, said he received guidance from Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte鈥檚 office that confirmed the law means quarantine protocols must be the same for the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike.
Hill described that interpretation as a 鈥済ame changer鈥 for schools as the highly transmissible delta variant of the virus races through the state. Kalispell鈥檚 Flathead Countywith just 41% of the eligible population fully vaccinated. Only 1 in 4 children eligible for a covid vaccine are vaccinated, according to county health officials. Hill estimates about two-thirds of his staff are vaccinated.
鈥淚f everybody is getting quarantined with a more contagious variant, you could see a lot of people out of school, staff and students, and [that] really threatens the ability of schools to stay open,鈥 Hill said.
As a result of the law, some Montana county health and school officials have decided to drop quarantine orders. Instead, they are making quarantining an option for exposed students.
But at least one county has decided to defy the law. The Missoula City-County Board of Health unanimously voted this week for a policy requiring the unvaccinated to quarantine, but not the vaccinated. The board held the vote after being advised by a representative from the county attorney鈥檚 office that the policy could lead to a lawsuit.
The stance by Missoula health officials is the latest in a string of defiant acts by schools and local governments against state laws and policies that ban covid-prevention measures. In Florida, for example, a handful of counties despite Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis鈥 ban on mask mandates.
In Texas, some order by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, while one county has sued the governor to overturn the order.
Anna Conley, Missoula鈥檚 chief civil deputy county attorney, said that although she can鈥檛 promise the county will be successful in court, the county might have a good argument to overturn the state law if it winds up being litigated. The law may conflict with other state health laws that require health boards and health officers to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, she said.
Montana legislators passed House Bill 702 this spring amid a backlash against covid-prevention protocols such as a mask mandate under former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, and after a Great Falls hospital announced plans to require its employees to get vaccinated against covid.
鈥淵our health care decisions are private; they are protected by the constitution of the state of Montana,鈥 said bill sponsor state Rep. Jennifer Carlson (R-Manhattan) during the legislative session. 鈥淵our privacy is protected, and your religious rights are protected.鈥
Brooke Stroyke, a spokesperson for Gianforte, said it鈥檚 up to county officials to interpret how HB 702 affects quarantine orders in schools. However, an adviser in the governor鈥檚 office has instructed districts that the law presents an all-or-none option for county health departments when it comes to quarantine orders.
鈥淗B 702 would allow for quarantine protocols as long as they are applied to everyone equally and are not based on COVID vaccination status,鈥 Gianforte education and workforce policy adviser wrote in an email.
, CEO of the Montana School Boards Association, said that interpretation erases the advantage vaccines could provide in schools, where vaccinated teachers and students 12 and older would not have to quarantine following an exposure under CDC guidance.
Aside from Missoula, many county health departments are still deciding what to do. Gallatin and Lewis and Clark counties both say they will drop quarantine orders, making it optional for people to follow CDC guidance.
Flathead County is leaning toward the same approach. Flathead County Health Officer Joe Russell said that would allow vaccinated students, teachers and county residents to return to school and work as long as they aren鈥檛 showing covid symptoms. Russell said the county can still order covid-positive people to isolate.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 fair to punish someone that鈥檚 fully vaccinated and tell them that they have to 鈥 stay home for eight to 10 days. How fair is that?鈥 Russell said.
That means relying on unvaccinated people to do the right thing and stay home after they鈥檝e been identified as a close contact.
The prospect terrifies Rebecca Miller, who has two children in the Bigfork School District in Flathead County, where masks won鈥檛 be required in schools. Miller doesn鈥檛 think parents who are desperate to keep their kids in school so they can keep working will follow the Flathead City-County Health Department鈥檚 advice.
鈥淵eah, I think they鈥檙e going to send them to school,鈥 she said.
This story is part of a partnership that includes , and KHN.
