School Supt. Bryan Pruitt began Monday night’s meeting of the school board with an update on plans to reopen the schools.
Pruitt said he had just met with administrators, and the start of school will be pushed back to Aug. 24. Teachers will still have the same in-service dates, Aug. 6-7 and Aug. 11-12, but they will have an extra week to get ready.
The board had previously discussed measures to deal with the coronavirus, including the possibility of having students attend two or three days per week. Pruitt said all students will attend full-time, although elementary students will take an extra step. Half the elementary students will attend on the first day of school, and the other half will attend the second day. This will give teachers and staff time to acquaint students with social distancing procedures. After those first two days, all elementary students will attend full-time.
The school has large supplies of washable face masks on hand, along with wipes and sprays. Pruitt described a “great staff” working to keep facilities and buses clean. He mentioned other steps taken by the school, including the acquisition of more Chromebooks. Students lacking Internet services at home will have additional WiFi hotspots at the Eureka Springs Community Center and at the schools.
Pruitt said all schools will offer a blended instruction plan, using distance learning methods part of the time. That process will help the schools prepare for the possibility of having to close again.
“We need to meet the needs of students and staff,” Pruitt said. “School is going to look different, but we’ll have to adapt.” Board President Chris McClung replied, “That’s all we can do.”
In other business:
- Bids will arrive by Aug. 4 for the project to level the interior of the track to create a soccer field. That project also includes a new parking area and an area reserved for field events for track meets.
- The board accepted without discussion the resignation of board member Travis Holloway.
- School improvement plans were approved for the elementary, middle, and high schools. Pruitt explained that these plans include goals for improvements in literacy, math, and more. The school improvement plans will be posted on the school website.