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students from congregating in large groups.
“We will evaluate the Reopening Plan daily as
changing health and safety concerns arise,”
School Superintendent Doug Howell wrote in the
plan. “Guidelines may change or new guidelines
added between now and the start of school.
“We are prepared to teach totally online if the
overall health and safety factors call for a system
shutdown,” the plan says. “We will address the issues
of devices and internet access on a case by
case basis. Students with no internet access will
be taught using workbooks and other hard copy
materials.
“The Colquitt County School System believes
that a student needs to be in school if health and
safety protocols will allow,” Howell wrote. “There
is no substitute for in-school face-to-face instruction
with a competent, caring, and compassionate
teacher. So as of now, the plan is to reopen
according to the approved 2020-2021 calendar
with a parent option of online instruction on day
one.”
The plan continues with a long list of health and
safety guidelines that emphasize cleaning and
sanitizing facilities, social distancing for students
and staff, daily temperature checks and limited
access to the campus, even for parents.
“Buses will be a challenge to apply social distancing,”
the plan acknowledges. “Students will
be spread out when possible. Bus routes will be
analyzed with social distancing in mind.”
Masks are encouraged but will not be required.
The plan incorporates the Georgia Department
of Public Health’s Return to School Guidelines,
which establish when a confirmed or suspected
COVID-19 patient can return to school.
People with COVID-19 symptoms who have
been confirmed to have the disease can return
after both of the following are met:
• At least three days have passed since recovery,
defined as resolution of fever without the use of
fever-reducing medication and improvement in
respiratory symptoms.
• At least 10 days have passed since symptoms
first appeared.
Symptomatic people who are suspected of having
COVID-19 can follow the same rules, or can
return if they are tested for the illness and receive
a negative result.
Asymptomatic people with confirmed COVID-19
can return after 10 days have passed since the
positive laboratory test was done.
Asymptomatic people who’ve had close contact
with a person with COVID-19 will need to quarantine
for 14 days and watch for symptoms.
The school system’s plan also includes procedures
to send students or staff home if they are
suspected of having COVID-19.
Roughly half of the plan involves online options
for classes, either as parental options from the
beginning of the year or as a mid-year response
if schools have to close again.
From the beginning of the year, parents of students
in kindergarten through 12th grade can
choose to have their students taught online by a
Colquitt County teacher in what’s called the Remote
Classroom Option. These classes coincide
fairly well with what is being taught in the physical
classroom, according to information from the
school system.
Parents of students in grades 6-12 can opt instead
for the Georgia Virtual School, which is accessed
through the school system’s VirtuPack
program. The virtual school is taught by statewide
teachers and may not necessarily line up with the
subjects being taught at any given time in
Colquitt County’s in-person classes, so the system
discourages students from joining or leaving
the program except at the end of a semester.
The school system is surveying parents through
July 17 to judge how many would prefer the Remote
Classroom and how many would prefer VirtuPack
so administrators can fine-tune their plans
for the beginning of school.
No online option is being offered for pre-kindergarten.
“For many families, early childhood education
and child care services are essential,” Nick
Chastain, director of early learning for the system,
wrote in the plan. “Our goal remains the
same: to ensure every eligible child has access
to a high quality pre-K experience. We strive to
help all children gain the academic, social, and
emotional skills they will need to succeed in
school and life. These goals are simply unrealistic
in an online setting.”
Even assuming in-person classes begin as
planned, the system will have every teacher and
class using online learning tools in the classroom
weekly, the plan says. That way, if the schools
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have to close again due to the coronavirus (or
any other reason), the students will be able to
continue to use familiar applications during online
classes.
The plan affirms that special education students
would receive their required services in an online
manner if schools close, although some services,
such as an initial evaluation, might have to wait
until schools reopen.
The plan says each school will contact families at
the beginning of school to determine whether the
student has access to the internet and has a device
to do so with. Issues will be dealt with on a
case-by-case basis, which could include providing
hard copies of the curriculum materials to be
worked on at home and dropped off at school.
The plan also includes a section on School Nutrition.
Among its plans are options for classes to
eat lunch in their classrooms instead of the cafeteria.
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