Uncertainty haunts educators as start of school year nears
The only thing that is certain about start of this school year is that nothing is certain.
Due to a continuing spike of COVID-19 infections in Duval County, plans to reopen have been made, remade, and changed again. As of July 23, the Duval County School Board approved a plan to reopen Wednesday, Aug. 20, 10 days later than originally planned. In addition, students have online options. Masks in schools and on buses will be encouraged but not mandatory.
Elementary students in Pre-K through fifth grade will attend class on campus five days a week. Middle school students, grade 6-8, will have a hybrid model of both on campus and online learning via Duval HomeRoom until Sept. 14, when they return to the classroom full time.
High school students will attend on campus twice a week and online three days a week until Sept. 14 when full-time, on-campus classes resume.
All students also have two virtual options: Duval HomeRoom, which allows students to remain at their current school, Duval Virtual Instruction Academy, which is a full-time virtual school. The deadline for enrolling in the virtual options was July 31.
Duval County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Diana Greene said she is working with Duval Teachers United to finalize plans for teachers who want to work from home.
The Duval County school district also will have a COVID-19 Rapid Response Team to do contact tracing when there is a report of a positive test by a student, teacher, or staff member.
The plan must be approved by the Florida Department of Education.
Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran issued an emergency order in July asking all school districts to open schools five days a week. In response, the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, filed suit in Miami to overturn the order.
Greene asked the state for an exemption to the order to allow a phased reopening because of the area’s rising Coronavirus infection rate and the Republican National Convention (RNC), which has since been canceled.
But Greene said the cancellation of the RNC doesn’t change the infection rate, and she still thinks a hybrid model is most appropriate for Duval schools.
However, if the state doesn’t grant an exception, Jacksonville could lose up to $70 million in state funding.
“There is no winning in this,” Greene said at the close of the School Board meeting July 23. “We are going to have to come together, do what we need to do. There wasn’t a playbook written for this. It will be the team from the board to the classroom that will get us through this school year.”
Catholic Schools
The Diocese of St. Augustine plans to open its schools on Wednesday, Aug. 19 with extensive sanitation protocols in place, including mandatory masks.
Originally, the diocese set Monday, Aug. 10 as the opening date, but delayed the resumption of classes to give all the schools time to make sure they had all the supplies to secure the safety of students, faculty, and staff in place, said Deacon Scott Conway, superintendent of schools.
The Diocesan COVID-19 Task Force and the Diocesan Council on Catholic Schools talked weekly with the school principals to develop the 300-page Return-to-School Plan.
The plan includes the protocols that will be implemented in all 39 schools in the 17-county diocese:
All students, faculty and staff will wear masks, unless they are at least six feet apart.
Social distancing will be practiced throughout the day and the number of students allowed in the hallways and bathrooms will be limited. And seating in the cafeterias will be arranged to allow for social distancing.
Teachers will be trained to recognize symptoms. Any student with symptoms will see the school nurse and will be sent home if they have a temperature of 100.4. They must self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to school.
Frequently touched surfaces will be sanitized throughout the day.
The buildings will be electrostatically sprayed daily.
Visitors will not be allowed on campus.
“Safety is our number one concern in reopening our Catholic schools,” Conway said. “Our protocols have been tested here in the diocese for the past five months.”
The diocese’s eight Early Learning Centers have remained open and implemented the protocols, with only one student testing positive.
“We have had a few students test positive during our summer workouts at the high school level, and we communicated with all parents/guardians regarding the positive tests,” Conway said. “We have had no spread of the virus because of the same health and safety protocols.”
The Bolles School
The Bolles School plans to resume on-campus classes Thursday, Aug. 13 but has prepared four scenarios to allow for online learning either part-time or full-time as conditions merit.
Students who opt for At-Home Learning can return the campus for the beginning of the second quarter on Thursday, Oct. 15.
Protocols will be in place for all four Bolles campuses, including mandatory masks and daily wellness checks. Classrooms have been arranged to allow for social distancing and in some cases have been relocated to larger spaces.
Students who take the bus will be screened when they get on the bus. And all buses will be sanitized routinely.
Boarding students must have a Coronavirus test before arriving at school. If they test positive, they must quarantine for 14 days off campus.
Class arrivals and departures will be staggered to limit the number of students in hallways and entrances. Hand sanitizers will be available through the schools and athletic fields.
Parents and visitors will not be allowed on campus.
Lunch breaks will be shorter, with 20 minutes allowed for small groups of students. Plexiglass and contact-free payment systems have been installed, and in some cases boxed lunches will be delivered to classrooms.
The Athletics Department is waiting for word from the Florida High School Athletic Association about the resumption of team sports. In anticipation, however, student athletes have begun conditioning with distancing and sanitizing protocols.
“After going through distance learning last spring and meeting all summer to review new protocols due to COVID-19, we are no longer responding to a crisis and are confidently pursuing a safe return to school,” said Bolles President and Head of School Tyler Hodges.
The Episcopal Schools
The Episcopal Schools will return to campus Tuesday, Aug. 11 with synchronous Online Access for students who require it. Students will be screened upon arrival at each of the three campuses. Students with a fever will be asked to leave the campus. Any student who tests positive must quarantine for a minimum of 10 days but must also have three consecutive days with no fever and improved symptoms before returning to school.
The mask policy for students at the Beaches and St. Mark’s campuses is still being determined, but faculty and staff in contact with students must wear masks. Students, faculty, and staff at the Munnerlyn campus must wear masks.
Students at the Beaches and St. Mark’s campuses will remain in their classrooms and teachers will rotate.
Furniture will be arranged for social distancing and students are required to sanitize their hands several times during the day.
Lunch breaks and chapel will be done in small groups to allow for social distancing.
Anyone traveling to high-risk areas or outside the United States must notify the school.
Athletics is waiting on guidance from the Florida High School Athletic Association, but students have begun conditioning and practices are expected to resume soon.
Visitors will be allowed on campus as long as they wear masks and socially distance.
Families
The Centers for Disease Control have issued guidelines for reopening schools that put the onus on parents. The CDC urges parents to make sure their children know Coronavirus protocols and understand the importance of wearing masks, social distancing, and washing their hands often.
Parents also are asked to screen their children every morning for symptoms including fever, cough, body aches, breathing difficulties, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and loss of taste or smell. If a child is sick, they should stay home, and depending on the severity of symptoms, see a doctor. The school should also be notified.
By Lilla Ross
Resident community News
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