Windham – In these trying times, we are seeing a new normal in almost every aspect of our lives, and school systems are no different. After months of working on a plan with the county health department, CDC and other Portage County school districts, Windham Board of Education (BOE) unveiled their plan at a special board of education meeting, held on Monday July 27, 2020. The meeting was a combination in-person and Zoom, due to two board members unable to attend in person.
BOE President Mandy Berardinelli called the meeting to order and turned the meeting over to Superintendent Aireane Curtis to present the re-opening plan for the 2020-21 school year. Superintendent Curtis highlighted the most important aspects of the plan and after some questions and a discussion, the board approved the plan. The approved plan is now available to view on the web site.
The plan is similar to what many schools in the county will use. First of all, Curtis explained that they will have the building ready and it will look different from what folks have been used to seeing. There will be sanitizer at each door going in and out of the buildings, bathrooms doors and the classrooms as well. All bathroom facilities will be touchless. There will be a drop zone in the foyer of each building for parents to use to drop off forgotten items. One of the most important things the school did, was purchase sanitation machines to be used daily in each building.
This school year, visitors will not be permitted in buildings at all to limit the risk to staff and students. Forgotten items, that parents bring to the school to be left in the foyer in a cart with name and grade marked. A staff member will retrieve items and get them to the proper person.
The school district bought 250 additional chrome books over the summer and each student will be assigned one for the entire year. They have also purchased hot spots that can be accessed from the school parking lots if people have limited access to WIFI.
Here is the plan in a nutshell: Students and their family will need to decide whether on-line school or physical attendance school is best for them. Each family will have to commit to which ever option they choose for an entire semester (it ends January 15, 2021) by August 7, 2020. If one is not chosen, one will be placed in the physically attending school group. There will be no flip-flopping back and forth. The online school will be nothing like last spring. Students who choose online schooling can expect to be in class on a computer 5-6 hours a day. School will start August 31st for online classes and those physically attending classes with a last name starting with letter A-K. Those with names beginning L-Z who are physically attending classes will start September 1st. Families, who have multiple last names will still attend classes on the same day and will be notified by the administration as to which group they will be placed in.
The school will divide those attending school into two groups, according to their last name. There will be a gold group and a black group (school colors) each group will attend every other day in September with plenty of work to do on the off days, hence the chrome books. Students will have assigned seats in the classroom to help with contact tracing if there becomes a need to do that. They will also stagger class times to lower the number of students in the hallway at a time. They will try to have teachers move rather than students if possible, for the same reason. In October, they hope to have all those attending physical classes meet every day. A mid-September evaluation will determine if that happens.
Temperatures are to be checked at home every day then again when entering the building, anything over 100 degrees will not be permitted in the building.
Buses will load first on, to the back of bus, last on, in front. Masks will need to be worn on the buses. At night, they will load last off, to the back and first off, to the front. Students will be sitting no more than two to a seat. If weather permits, the windows will be opened up on the bus.
Masks will not be required in classrooms but are required on buses, in halls and entering and exiting the building. Two masks will be provided to each staff member and each student. They are reusable, washable masks that will need to be laundered regularly. All staff members will be required to wear a mask all day except when eating lunch or alone in the classroom.
The plan on how lunch will work isn’t finalized yet, but here is what we know. The cafeteria will hold 50 students socially distanced; they’ll use the hangar and another large room for Jr./Sr. high lunch. Elementary school will use the gym and the cafeteria for lunch. The rest of the meal/cafeteria plans are still being worked out.
Preschool will go every other day all day. They will only be allowed so many kids, so there will be fewer openings for the program; they can still socially distance. There is a lot more to the plan, including playground usage, special services and other special classes. One will need to check the website for specifics www.windham-schools.org click on COVID19 update.
