With decisions, though not discussion, on the mask issue behind them, at least for the moment, members of the school board are working on how to help students who are losing educational time.

According to Superintendent Amy Stewart, there were 40 cases in the district as of Thursday and 243 students denied entry due to close contacts.

Quarantined students are out of school for a week or two.

A parent informed the board that his child was denied entry to school and not given any materials to keep up with work.

Board members asked for an informational update at the October curriculum, instruction, and technology committee about practices in place for making sure quarantined students have everything they need.

And, they asked what they can do to help address those who fall behind.

“Is there a way for us to provide… extra services to those students?” board member Arthur Stewart asked.

The district is willing and has money to provide those solutions, Superintendent Stewart said. “We’re being as creative as we can in HR in terms of getting well-intentioned bright people in.”

The board approved some new pay scales for substitute teachers and tutors.

“The grant dollars being eligible is not the problem,” she said. “Finding bodies that are willing is the problem. We still have a significant number of support positions and we are having difficulty getting some long-term subs…”

As an example, at a previous meeting, board members asked if the district could recruit CDL drivers if there is a shortage of bus drivers.

The district was not alone in making that request, but the results were disappointing.

“The CDL effort across the state had yielded 17 CDL drivers,” Superintendent Amy Stewart said.