APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A special board meeting last night saw the Appleton School District present its proposed return to school plans. The district’s ultimate goal is to have students engaged five days a week no matter the model.
“Safety is at the heart of everything we were looking at. Safety is paramount,” said Superintendent Judy Baseman.
Only if conditions of the pandemic allow for in-person learning, early childhood, 4K, kindergarten, and grades 1-4 will be fully in-person.
Baseman said, “we believe we will do a great job of providing the safest possible situation for that fully-in person learning for our youngest learners.”
Grades 5-12 will be offered a hybrid model; they may be present only two days a week but engaged virtually the remaining days of the week.
“At this point in time because of what we know and the best practices, we believe this is the best possible way to start the year for our students,” said Baseman.
Assistant Superintendent Steve Harrison says…
“We do recognize again that our older students are more independent in their learning than our younger students. We also understand reducing the number of students in the building each day and our current classroom sizes and spaces do not allow for that to happen with all students in the same building at the same time.”
An example schedule presented of the hybrid model would separate students in two groups. Group “A” attends in-person Monday and Tuesday. Group “B” attends virtually. Wednesday all students will be virtual for deep cleaning and teacher prep. Group “A” will then be virtual Thursday and Friday. Group “B” will be in person.
All grade levels will have the option to engage virtually. The district has expanded 1-to-1 Chromebook access for early childhood-6th grade.
“When we think about the benefits of a fully virtual model particularly when we think both about safety as well as equity and feasibility it currently is the safest option,” said Harrison.
Families will be asked to commit to a learning model through a questionnaire starting July 29 and have until Aug. 6.
Students and staff will be required to wear face coverings and masks. Masks will be provided for students and staff. The district plans to teach students the expectations of masking and understanding its importance.
“We know it mitigates the transmission of the virus,” said Julie King, Chief HR officer.
“It’s a teaching process, it’s an awareness piece,” said Baseman, “I have no doubt if we work together we will make this a consistent practice throughout the district.”
Physical distancing and barriers will be put in place through out buildings as well as hand washing and hand sanitizer stations added.
Students with also complete health checks at home.
For transportation, families are encouraged to walk or bike to school. If taking the bus, all riders will be required to wear face coverings and have assigned seats. Buses will be loaded from back to front. Buses will also be cleaned in between trips.
The district also ensures all students will have access to meals at school or home. Meals will be delivered to classrooms, picked up and taken back to class, or in the cafeteria while practicing social distancing.
Attendance teams will continue to monitor students. Opportunities to engage will increase for attendance opportunities.
The district will also be adding a new position with its nursing staff. This position will focus solely on COVID-19 support.
The district also addressed expectations for staff. There will be health screenings for staff daily as well as options to meet the needs of high-risk staff. There will also be protocols put in place on how to process and respond to positive cases. The district will also make social and emotional support available for staff.
Students who may be high risk will have options as well. Their cases will be reviewed case by case and nurses will work with families on recommendations.
The district also says social and emotional learning is essential more than ever during this time. There are plans to continue social and emotional learning for students.
Details are still being finalized for students in special education. More information is expected July 31.
Plans that are still in progress include extended day learning programs, co-curricular, as well as athletics.
Music and art will either happen within the classroom or virtually. Physical education and recess will happen with safety precautions.
Field trips will not be scheduled at this time.
The administration will have power to transition models of learning throughout the school year if needed.
Appleton City Health Officer Kurt Eggebrecht assured the city’s continued support and expanding resources for the school
“If and when cases develop throughout the district or community we have already built and will be training a search capacity for that”
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