As the first day of school looms near, the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Community School District is continuing to put plans in place for returning to school in-person. School is scheduled to start on August 24, and early registration is already taking place. In a letter sent to parents last week, the district outlined guidelines they will be following.
Much of what the letter included was already reported on in the Monitor two weeks ago. It reiterates that face coverings will be “required” for all students, staff and visitors anywhere inside the school buildings. Face shields will be provided for students and staff, though the letter added, “If preferred, a mask or other PPE may be worn instead of or in addition to the face shield.” Face coverings WILL NOT be required outside, like at recess.
Many questions have surrounded school transportation. The district emphasized, “All students on buses should have masks or other appropriate face coverings.” Students riding buses will have assigned seats, though the letter adds that social distancing cannot be guaranteed. “Parents concerned with this are encouraged to transport their own children,” the letter mandates. “Students unwilling to comply with these transportation rules cannot be provided bus service.”
Students will be able to eat breakfast and hot lunches in the lunchrooms. The district plans to purchase additional seating to maintain social distancing efforts. Lunch schedules might be adjusted to allow for more distancing.
For additional safety measures, parents are asked to screen their children before they come to school for COVID symptoms. Ill students must stay home and students or staff with a fever of 100.4 or above must not come to school. Handwashing and hand sanitizer use during the school day will be encouraged.
Students who test positive for COVID during the school year or are known to have been exposed “will be restricted from the building for the amount of time advised by Wright County Public Health.” Other students in the sick student’s classroom will be able to remain in school if they were wearing a face covering. The letter adds though, “Any student without a face covering will be considered exposed to the virus if the student was in class with another student or employee diagnosed with the virus.” Thus, those students will have to leave school as well.
The district continues to stress that there will be an online learning option. The letter says, “Parents who are uncomfortable with the in-person Return to Learn plan have the opportunity to select a daily on-line instruction option provided by CGD.” District Superintendent Joe Nelson added all the details for the online option haven’t been decided upon yet. He says that meetings will be taking place in the upcoming weeks with administrators and teachers to make plans. Nelson also notes that students who start the year with the online learning option will be welcome to come back to in-person classes at any time.
On the ground level, both teachers and parents are mentally preparing for the year to come, despite the unknown. Rachel Sido, who teaches fourth grade at CGD, is excited to get back to school. Yet, she admits that she has mixed emotions because of how different this year will be. She says she is concerned about the extra work that will be required from teachers in order to keep students safe and how the safety measures will affect learning. She said, “As an elementary teacher, I use a lot of collaborative learning in my classroom, and I’m concerned as to how I will be able to continue giving students ownership of their learning.”
At the same time, Sido is pleased the district has adopted such safety measures. She noted that she regularly wears a face covering in public anyway. As far as teaching goes while wearing one, she added, “I am supportive about the district requiring face shields. I am more comfortable wearing a face shield to teach in than a mask. Students will be able to see my full face and my expressions.”
CGD parent Mandi Rink is also happy with the decision to require masks. Rink, who will have a four-year-old preschooler and a fifth grader in school this fall, has similar concerns as Sido however. Will teachers really be able to maintain or enforce the safety standards? Rink said, “Staff at school have so much to worry about on a regular non-pandemic day. This is just one more thing on their plate. I am wondering how to make sure my kids keep their masks on, or in my youngest’s case, if he will even wear a mask or shield to begin with.”
Despite her concerns, Rink says that as a working parent, she has to send her kids to school in-person. “I would love to homeschool my kids, but it isn’t feasible for me.” As she looks forward to the school year, she says her fifth grader is ready to get back to school no matter what, while her preschooler is pretty nervous. Rink adds that she doesn’t even know what to tell her kids at this point. She wonders who they will get to play with during recess, if they can sit next to their friends on the bus, and if there will be music class. “These are things the parents need to know so we can adequately prepare our kids,” she said. “We can’t just throw them to the wolves.”
Superintendent Nelson acknowledges that there are indeed many more decisions to be made in the next month and plans are most definitely subject to change. He adds that administrators are trying to answer as many questions as they can and take parents’ concerns into account.
In the end, no one really knows what the first few weeks of the school year will hold. Nelson emphasized, “The unknown of the experience is our greatest challenge. None of us have taught with PPE and social distancing controls, so this will be new for all of us.”
Despite all of this, Nelson remains hopeful that CGD educators will get the job done. “Teachers are creative, flexible, and resourceful by nature,” he affirms. “I’m confident we’ll see these traits and more when school resumes.”
(See the ad on page 9 of the Monitor for information about CGD registration. Parents are reminded if they are electing to use daily online instruction provided by CGD for a student, they still must register that student through the district.)
