One new addition to every student’s back-to-school supply list this year will be face coverings.
In a Thursday night forum that was broadcast live over several social media outlets, Superintendent Miskia Davis and other staff of the Sunflower County Consolidated School District revealed that masks will be mandated as a key element in the reopening strategy for the public schools in Sunflower County.
Several questions were addressed during that session and one of the most significant was how the district is going to handle positive COVID-19 cases and any outbreaks in the schools and parents were assured that the staff will follow the approved medical guidelines when it comes to handling such issues.
In the presentation, moderated by Thomas E. Edwards, Sr. High School Assistant Principal Tina Steele, Davis began by dispelling the presupposed notion that the district leaders have been intentionally withholding information from the public about their plans for re-opening the schools.
She explained that it was because they wanted to be able to present a calculated plan of action that they could be proud of and comfortable with bringing the children into.
Part of Davis’ opening remarks featured acknowledging published articles that assured the public that the decision whether or not to open the schools was not up to the district. “President Trump has let us know we must open schools in the fall,” she said.
In a model that was devised by a nine-panel taskforce, Davis and her team set out to address nine specific aspects of reopening the schools. She proposed three options, the first thing being a traditional return whereby the school day would be typically as it was prior to COVID-19.
Using that option, the student would have face-to-face contact with their teachers each day. However, that presents the highest likelihood of transmission of the virus. “So, in our minds, traditional was out the window,” Davis said.
The second alternative is the full virtual option where all children would remain in their homes and have no physical contact with each other or the teachers. Also, no buses would have to be utilized, which would further promote social distancing. According to Davis the drawback of that plan would be the lack of face-to-face interaction with the teachers, which she said is a proven method of successfully educating students.
Her third option was the hybrid model, which combines the traditional and virtual alternatives, which she said is the most difficult to construct. “It’s the best of both worlds. You come in a couple of days a week and you have that face-to-face contact with the children and they have days when they are at home,” said Davis.
She stressed that their goal was not to do just what was easiest, but what was best for the children. Referencing a survey of 3,000 community members, Davis said the majority was split between the hybrid and full virtual concepts. Only about 13 percent were reportedly in favor of returning traditionally. “And, with all of our expertise and our common sense, we decided to utilize two models,” said Davis.
Acknowledging that the district would be using the hybrid and the 100 percent virtual versions, Davis emphasized that medical personnel have expressed that no version would be void of risks.
Deploying the hybrid model means splitting the children into two groups. One group would go to the schools on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other group would go on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During the month of August, no students will be on campuses on Fridays, but starting in September, the district will begin concentrating on students that need additional help from both groups.
All of the students and teachers will be required to wear masks and to promote social distancing, the classrooms will only consist of about half of the normal attendees, Davis said.
In addition, in the elementary schools children will remain in the classroom setting and the teachers will move from class to class. However, in the higher grades, students will move from classroom to classroom in a staggered rotation.
Davis said the groups will be classified by families so that members of the same family will be in school and at home on the same days. “We didn’t want a high school student who’s responsible for helping take care of his little sister be separated with one coming on an A day and one coming on a B day,” she said.
When the children are at home for the two days, they will have pre-recorded virtual lessons by their teachers, plus lessons that coincide with what was taught on their days in school.
On the days that students report to school, they must wear the face coverings, they will be socially distanced on the buses and trained personnel will check their temperature before being admitted to class. Anyone, whose temperature is above the threshold, will be isolated and parents will be notified to pick them up.
Procedurally, the students will have designated bathroom breaks, so that the bathrooms can be cleaned and sanitized between uses. Meeting friends in the cafeteria during lunch is also a thing of the past. Meals will now be prepackaged and brought to the students. Additionally, the students will carry meals home so they will have food for the days they are away from the campuses.
Other changes occurring with the onset of the new school year will be the instituting of a learning management system called Canvas and the absence of substitute teachers. There will be no abbreviated school days; no sharing of materials and state-mandated assessments will still have to be completed by the students.
In addition to the hybrid method, there will be a 100 percent virtual learning option available for parents who choose to take that route. However, the parents will be required to sign a binding waiver stipulating that they will provide the necessary technology, Internet access and service stability needed to get the school’s educational material to their child for at least the first nine-week period.
Davis explained that this is necessary since the district does not currently have computers and hotspots for every student in the district. She assured the public that the technology has been ordered and should be available soon.
In addition, the waiver warrants that the virtual students will have no direct contact with the teachers or staff, will complete all of the required work and meet all of the grading, reporting and graduation guidelines. Changing from virtual to hybrid will only be allowed at the beginning of a nine-week period.
During the course of the session, William Murphy, Director of Personnel/Student Affairs, explained why the 100 percent hybrid alternative was not a viable option for the entire district by conveying that many of the district’s students live in areas where Internet access is just not an option.
Davis stressed that registering with the district is required in order to receive district learning material and clarified that home schooling is different from 100 percent virtual learning and any parent who decides to home school will not receive any learning materials from the district.
To address the question of school safety and sanitation, Davis said a great deal of time and resources have been expended to clean the facilities, plus train and educate the staff and students.
District Nurse Kakawanda Hibbler described the medical procedures being implemented and encouraged parents to keep their child at home if they are exemplifying signs of any illnesses, not just COVID-19.
It was conveyed that many aspects of prior school attendance—transportation included—will still be in place, but will look differently. According to district officials, parent/teacher conferences will be via videoconference, campus visits will see some restrictions, plus choir, band and other extracurricular activities will be altered for safety and even though the start of fall athletics has been pushed back, its fate still hangs in the balances.
In his remarks, district board of trustees’ president, Edward Thomas recited a quote attributed to the late leader, Nelson Mandela, regarding courage and overcoming fear and then stated, “As we move on into the future to educate our children, we know that there is going to be some fear, but we need to also understand that we have the ability to triumph over that fear.”
The 2020-2021 school year is currently set to begin August 10, with the teachers reporting a week earlier on August 3 to make their final preparations before the children arrive. Davis asserted, “We're doing the best we can to keep everyone safe.”
