Jefferson County students soon will have a clearer picture about what to expect when school starts for the 2020-2021 school year in late August.
County school districts are expected on Monday (July 20) to announce their plans for next school year, after finishing the last couple of months last school year with buildings closed because of COVID-19.
“I think what you will find is that it is about giving as much choice to families that we can, and being flexible,” said Josh Isaacson, De Soto School District superintendent and president of the Jefferson County Superintendents Association. “It is us being flexible with families, and families being flexible with us. It is about doing the best we can to try to keep everyone as safe as possible.”
The closure of buildings in March last school year forced districts to develop remote-learning practices to complete the year, and it started the clock on developing a plan for the 2020-2021 school year, whether that means students back in buildings, online classes or a combination of the two
“I would say planning for re-entry started the minute we announced we will be going virtual in the spring,” said Fox C-6 School District Superintendent Nisha Patel, whose district is scheduled to resume classes Aug. 26. “That (closing buildings) was the easier decision; we knew re-entry would be challenging."
Each district’s reopening plan will look similar since Jefferson County school leaders collaborated with each other, as well as with the Jefferson County Health Department. In addition, Jefferson County school leaders are following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and have worked with school districts in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Franklin County, St. Charles County and Warren County to develop a plan to resume classes.
“All of these school districts worked together to come up with the best plans we can,” said Festus R-6 School District communications coordinator Kevin Pope, whose district is scheduled to resume classes Aug. 24. “We are working hard to ensure the safest return possible when school is set to begin on Aug. 24.”
Some districts in the county started holding in-person summer school classes this week, providing a preview of how next school year might operate. On Monday (July 13), the Dunklin R-5, Hillsboro R-3, Jefferson R-7 and Windsor C-1 school districts started on-campus summer school programs. Isaacson said De Soto plans to start an elementary summer school program on Monday (July 20).
Even though districts plan to announce how schools will operate at the start of the school year, officials say plenty could change between the announcement and late August.
“It will be the best information we have at the time and what our general plans are,” said Northwest Superintendent Desi Kirchhofer, whose district is scheduled to start classes Aug. 26. “There will still need to be some details that will need to be worked out along the way.”
Gathering information
De Soto, Festus, Fox and Northwest school officials said they surveyed parents and the majority said they want to see school buildings reopen with precautions this year.
Isaacson said of the 1,700 surveys De Soto sent to families, the district received more than 800 responses. On the district website, De Soto said 88.8 percent of the responses said they wanted schools to reopen.
Pope said more than 1,100 parents responded to the Festus survey, which represents about two-thirds of the families in the district. He said 87 percent of parents who responded said they likely or definitely would send their children back to school with best hygiene practices and other recommendations from the Jefferson County Health Department in place.
Pope also said 76 percent of the parents indicated they were very or somewhat comfortable with sending kids back to school.
“That is what stood out,” Pope said. “Our parents would like to see our children back in school because they know that is the best way they are going to be educated.”
Patel said Fox received more than 5,000 responses to its survey, along with 2,000 comments. JP Prezzavento, the district’s communication and instructional technology coordinator, said the majority of the students, staff and parents who responded to the survey said they wanted buildings to open to students.
Patel said the Fox survey, like other district’s surveys, also gathered feedback on how the remote learning in the final quarter of last school year went.
“I was pleasantly surprised to see our parents and students feeling that our virtual learning was better than they anticipated,” Patel said. “We know we need to improve in this area, but having such short notice in the spring, we made the most of it. Our teachers were phenomenal and really stepped up.”
Northwest received more than 2,500 responses to its survey, and 74 percent of the parents said they were very likely or likely to send their children back to school at the start of the fall semester.
Kirchhofer said the district also received 35 pages of comments about schools reopening, and those comments indicate people have extreme feelings about safety measures.
“It is, ‘If you think you are going to take my child’s temperature, you are going to get sued,’ and another person says, ‘If you don’t take every person’s temperature who is coming into the building, I will not send my kid back to your school,’” Kirchhofer said. “We will have some extremes that we will have to navigate. We will try to make some common sense decisions. The safety of students and our staff is the top priority.”
Playbook
Last week, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), as well as the St. Louis County public schools released recommended guidelines for re-entering school buildings.
The St. Louis County schools’ report was developed in collaboration with health professionals, including professors specializing in pediatrics and infectious diseases, as well as the heads of the Independent Schools of St. Louis, which includes 43 independently governed elementary and secondary schools in the region, and EducationPlus, a cooperative of 58 area school districts that house roughly one-third of the state’s students.
The guidelines emphasize the need for social distancing, hand washing and elevated cleaning throughout buildings.
The five-page document produced by DHSS and DESE recommends minimum protocols regarding screening, physical distancing and the use of masks or other face coverings.
Those organizations also recommend districts provide parents with a daily screening checklist to complete before taking students to school. The entities also recommended staff self-screen and be screened when arriving to work.
DHSS, DESE and St. Louis County school recommendations also say schools should limit mixing students by keeping small groups together throughout the day, adjusting lunch times to minimize the number of students eating together and avoiding large gatherings, such as assemblies and pep rallies.
The three groups also recommend that teachers and other school staff who interact with students wear a mask when they’re within 6 feet of children. The reports say if instructors or personnel are a safe distance away from others, then masks can be optional.
Both reports recommend middle and high school students wear masks when in close proximity to others and when walking through buildings. However, elementary school students should only be encouraged to wear masks when possible.
The recommendations also address bus transportation, saying students should be assigned to specific seats to help tracking if there is an outbreak.
While the guidelines provide an overview of what districts likely do when they reopen buildings, superintendents said each district and each school building may have variations because of different circumstances.
“It will be a balance of making sure we are meeting our students’ academic and social-emotional needs, as well as ensuring their safety to the best of our ability,” Patel said. “We want our students and staff in the buildings as much as possible and to be able to offer our parents’ choice. Depending on the building, they may have to adjust some of the guidance; however it will be minimal.”
The recommendations also say districts should prepare to provide remote learning if buildings need to close again.
The St. Louis County report said if more than 5 percent of the student body in a building or district tests positive any day, 4 percent test positive over two days in a row or 3 percent test positive for three days in a row, then that building or district should close for 10 days.
Jefferson County superintendents met with St. Louis County superintendents during the development of the re-entry guidelines, and practices that St. Louis County schools recommend will likely be seen at Jefferson County schools.
However, even though Monday’s plan will map out how schools plan to operate and what contingencies will be in place in case of a COVID-19 flareup, superintendents said procedures will evolve as situations change between now and the start of the school year.
“There are a lot of unknowns, and there will continue to be unknowns,” Isaacson said. “As we work together within our communities, we will be able to conquer those unknowns and work through them as they come. Working together, we will continue focusing on our kids. That is why we are all here. We are here to focus on the safety of the students and staff, just like we always have and will continue moving forward.”
