MILLARD- Millard Public Schools Superintendent Jim Sutfin said his school district is in “crisis mode” as it struggles to keep schools staffed amid the omicron surge.

“Folks, we’re in crisis mode,” Sutfin told his school board this week. “We are absolutely in crisis mode.”

Some Nebraska school districts, including Millard, are shortening their school weeks to prevent classrooms from not having a teacher. Millard has scheduled remote learning for Friday, Jan. 28; Monday, Jan. 31; and Friday, Feb. 11.

By going remote, the district is hoping teachers and students who have contracted the virus can recuperate at home without missing as many school days, the district said in a letter to parents.

In addition to staff absences, Sutfin said the district is seeing a record number of students absent for COVID-19 and also a few more absences due to the mask mandate.

Requiring masks has been hotly debated in Millard, and the district had made them optional prior to a mask mandate being instituted in Omaha last week.

For each student's absence, teachers must create makeup work and catch students up when they return. And because of staffing shortages, more staff are being asked to cover lunch and their co-workers’ classrooms, often giving up their own plan time in the process. Staff must then do their own work after school or on the weekends.

“It’s just not a great situation for our teaching staff, and it’s really, really worn them down,” Sutfin said.

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