NORTH VERNON — The Jennings County School Corp. board is planning a special meeting Thursday to discuss potentially moving back the start date for the school year.
JCSC Superintendent Teresa Brown said the schools are ready to reopen as scheduled, but the start date could be pushed back depending on information presented to the board.
“At this time, the date Aug. 6 is kind of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ thing,” Brown said Tuesday. “We are ready to open but, depending on information from the health department, the date could be pushed back a week.”
While Indiana has seen an uptick in the spread of the virus over the past two weeks, Jennings County’s numbers have stayed low.
According to the Indiana State Department of Health, Jennings County has reported 188 total positive cases and 12 deaths, on 1,824 tests, since March 12. On Tuesday, the county had reported 20 new positive test results and one death for July.
The virtual school board meeting will be livestreamed on the corporation’s website at 6 p.m. Thursday.
The corporation’s reopening plan, called “Panthers Prepare & Care,” was approved by the school board on June 25.
Surveys were collected from the parents of 3,047 students, and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Indiana Department of Education, Indiana Department of Health, and Indiana Department of Insurance were also taken into consideration for the plan.
“We have had a large group of 50 people working very hard on our plan to reopen and I am confident we are ready to welcome our kids back,” Brown said.
The plan says that 58.3% of the surveyed families (1,777 students) indicated they wanted a traditional model of school, 33.7% (1,028 students) preferred hybrid learning and 7.9% (242) hoped for an online-only approach.
According to Brown, 15% of the anticipated 4,000 students have still not registered.
“That is typical of most years,” she said. “We always have kids who don’t register until the very last minute. We are used to being flexible with that.”
The current plan gives JCSC students the opportunity to enroll as either traditional or online students for the 2020-2021 school year.
Those enrolled as traditional students will attend classes five days a week at the high school, middle school, one of the six elementary schools, or at the Jennings County Educational Center.
The plan says that the corporation has worked with health care officials to make the schools safer.
“We will be re-imagining school to provide for extended distancing, smaller classes, larger spaces used for instruction, additional lunch periods with students seated with appropriate spacing and robust cleaning and sanitizing,” the plan says. “Classrooms and hallways will be stocked with hand sanitizers, wipes, kleenexes, etc., and regular schedules will include hand washing and common surfaces cleaning protocols.”
Brown said that the corporation hopes to keep classroom sizes limited to 22 students or fewer during the year.
If a positive case of COVID-19 case is found, the plan says that it will work with local and state health officials to determine the school corporation’s next steps.
Students will be required to wear masks while riding the bus, and will also need face coverings at prescribed times during the school day.
According to the plan, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during school, the motto for traditional students will be, “I wear my mask for you, and you wear your mask for me.”
“(JCSC) will be requiring students to wear masks when they are not able to socially distance: on the bus, during arrival and dismissal, and when in hallways,” the plan says. “During classroom instruction, when students are able to socially distance, they will not be required to wear masks. Wearing a mask in common areas demonstrates our commitment to helping protect one another and limiting the spread of COVID-19.”
JCSC will provide transportation to school buildings for traditional students, but masks will be mandatory. Parents must supply transportation if students don’t wear a mask, the plan says.
Students will have lunch as usual, but will be socially distanced and have assigned seats. Recess will also occur outside as usual, but students will stay together as classroom groups and have stations that allow them to engage in activities in smaller groups, the plan says.
During the first two weeks of school, there will be a concentration on training in health and safety protocols for both traditional and online students.
Online students will attend classes through a computer at home or at an approved distance-learning site.
School-provided laptops will have all of the apps and technology capable for any needs during distance learning, according to the plan. The plan also addresses the issue of internet access for some students.
“JCSC is currently exploring options with AT&T, Verizon, and other internet providers for students and staff to assist with no home internet access,” the plan says. “Students without internet access or qualifying for free lunch will be provided internet access at no charge, when possible. Students qualifying for reduced priced meals will be provided internet access on a sliding scale to make it affordable.”
There will be additional computer classroom requirements for online students compared this past spring.
Some of the changes for online students will include a dress code requiring casual dress instead of pajamas. There will also be increased screen time for interaction with teachers.
Elementary online students will be required to spend at least five hours on the computer per day and secondary school students will be required to work a minimum of six hours of computer work each school day.
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Jennings County School Corp. recently unveiled its plan for the 2020-21 school year. The plan can be accessed at jcsc.org/news#upcomingplans
On Thursday, the school board will have a virtual meeting to discuss moving the start of the school year back. A link to the livestream will be available on the corporation’s website at jcsc.org/news#boardmeetinglivestream.
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