Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. students headed back to in-person classes Friday, as students poured into buildings around the city.
“I think we’re all really excited,” said Central Assistant Principal Blake Manuel, “and I’m personally really excited to have kids back in the building and moving forward as best we can.”
He’s looking forward to trying to have everyone in the building all year long and keeping things more “consistent” — as opposed to last year, which felt “like a bunch of different school years in one.”
Lincoln Principal Brett Findley is also looking forward to a “return to normal.”
“I want school to feel like school again for the kids,” he said. “And I think that’s what I’m most focused on.”
Of course, the first day got off to a bit of a less-than-normal start, given that a Chick-fil-a cow mascot was on hand at Lincoln, and there were also stand-ins of Marty McFly and Doc Brown for photo ops. Findley, who could be seen helping families take group photos, said that they try to make the first day “feel like a big party for the kids.”
Superintendent Jim Roberts said Friday afternoon that he felt the day went “really well” and that both kids and staff were happy about the return. He and school cabinet members noted positive attitudes during their visits to BCSC buildings.
“I think it’s started well,” he said. “I really believe that we’re going to navigate COVID-19 challenges, but I believe we’re going to be in school each day. Now, I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before, but it feels like it.”
Karla Eudy, a social studies teacher at Central, said that she feels the year is “off to a great start” and expressed excitement to be working in person with her students.
She wasn’t the only one happy about reunions. Seeing friends again is an exciting part of going back to school, said Central seventh grader Maisie Aguirre.
“The summer always seems short, but the kids are definitely ready to go back,” said Lincoln parent Ali Trueblood. She feels like they missed a lot of opportunities last year and hopes that “some sense of normalcy returns, when it’s the right time for Columbus.”
She’s also looking forward to engaging more with the school and having the chance to be in the classroom with students. Under the current reopening plan, visitors and parents are allowed to enter school buildings. At the beginning of last year, only essential visitors were allowed in schools.
Last year also saw all BCSC schools transition to eLearning in November. Elementary schools returned to in-person in January, and secondary schools moved to a hybrid format before using a phased approach to return to face-to-face.
An online option option is still available through the Columbus Virtual Pathway. As of July 27, CVP director Josh Giebel said that just over 225 students were enrolled in the program — about 160 at the secondary level and about 60 at the elementary level. In contrast, Roberts reported last August that about 27% of BCSC students (or around 3,100) were opting for eLearning options.
“We just came off of a year of homeschooling, eLearning, which has always been a trick, because we’ve always done the traditional brick-and-mortar,” Central parent Carina Garcia said. “So going from that back to it, got an extra set of nerves from it.”
There was a bit of a learning curve to going virtual, she said. However, eLearning was “well-executed” and a “good alternative,” and her family didn’t have too many problems with it.
Aguirre said that she liked eLearning somewhat, and it was nice to stay in one place instead of switching between classrooms.
Jadrien Hernandez, an eighth grader at Central, said that online learning was difficult for him.
“It’s what we needed to do, but I don’t think it was the best for a lot of our kids,” said Manuel. “I think, for those kids specifically, we’re just excited to get them back in the building and try to help them get caught up as best they can.”
Eudy also said described eLearning as “very challenging.”
“You lose connection with the children,” she said. “So I’m looking forward to everybody being back in the classroom.”
Trueblood said that online learning was a challenge for kids “socio-emotionally” and also difficult for parents who had to balance work and home life. “For our family, the kids seemed to do better in person, given their ages, and the fact that interpersonal connections are so important at their ages,” she said.
Karin Scarbrough, a learning resource teaching assistant at Lincoln, said, “It was hard all around, but I felt like the kids and the teachers and the staff gave it their all.”
Since they’re still in a “COVID world,” there are certain challenges that come with that situation, Manuel said. However, he added that staff will be “ready and flexible” for whatever they need to do to best meet kids’ needs.
“Our district leadership is working really hard to put plans in place and to follow state and national guidelines,” he said. “And so I trust what they’re doing, and I know they’re working really hard to keep our kids safe and our staff safe and work with our community.”
Findley, who has a son in kindergarten at Lincoln, said that he feels “comfortable” and safe with current protocols.
BCSC’s 2021-22 reopening plan contains some notable differences from last year’s approach. For instance, students and staff were required to wear masks last year, and temperature checks took place upon entry into school buildings.
Now, masks are only required on school buses, and temperature checks are not part of the reopening plan (though parents are still asked to screen their children for symptoms before sending them to school).
Garcia said that she felt like the school corp. has “laxed” somewhat in terms of its protocols but also believes that they’re “circling around again” and working to ensure that the students are safe.
“That’s top priority, honestly, in my eyes,” she said. “As long as they’re willing to keep adhering to those guidelines until this lifts, I think I’ll be OK with it.”
The changes in BCSC’s COVID-19 protocols from last year is “encouraging,” said Eudy.
“But we also now know, down the road, that we’re probably going to be back in masks,” she added. “We’ll do what we need to do, especially to keep them here at school.”
Masking, in particular, has been a hot-button issue in the community, with some individuals wanting to continue the previous requirement and others calling for parent choice. Some students wore masks as they entered school Friday morning.
On Wednesday, the COVID-19 Community Task Force sent out a release strongly recommending that masks be worn in all indoor spaces, regardless of an individual’s vaccination status.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended similar measures for areas with high weekly transmission rates, as well as indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to schools, vaccinated or not. The Indiana State Department of Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics have also issued recommendations for masking in schools.
BCSC officials have discussed these recommendations in recent weeks but have not, as of yet, announced any changes to the current reopening plan. The task force’s recommendation is on the agenda during his COVID-19 update at Monday’s school board meeting.
Scarbrough, who had a mask on hand, said that when it comes to COVID-19 protocols, everyone has their own opinion, and what’s right for her family isn’t necessarily right for someone else’s. People have to be accepting amid these differences, she concluded.
Trueblood expects some difficulty due masks being optional. Her family is choosing for their children to wear masks, but she foresees possible peer pressure from other students.
“I think the school board and community does the best it can with the information that it has,” she said. “It’s always a controversial topic, and there are lots of opinions and emotions surrounding it. But hopefully they’ll continue to make data-driven decisions and do what’s best and safest for not only the kids, but also the teachers.”
COVID-19 aside, the beginning of school also ushers in more familiar challenges and anxieties.
“Heavy traffic congestion around several schools, especially North High School and Central Middle School, posed problems for buses to get into lots to unload, then subsequently delayed many elementary routes,” said BCSC Director of Operations Brett Boezeman.
This will improve as the school year goes on, though he also encourages families to use school buses in order to help “remedy traffic concerns.”
Boezeman also expressed his gratitude to bus drivers and monitors for being patient, helping students starting the new year well and going “above and beyond.” As of Friday, the school corporation is fully staffed on bus drivers but could always use a few more as subs, he said.
