By Dani Heller and Jackie Pollack
The high school will begin all-in-person attendance beginning on April 12, and parents must commit to their child(ren)’s location of learning, whether it be in-person or online for the rest of the school year, according to district emails to the community.
The students will follow a typical A/B day schedule starting on April 12, rather than the Cohort Calendar the district has been using.
Students may not switch their location of learning once they commit to one. If a student who is supposed to be in school tries to join the Google Meet, they will be denied access by their teacher. In the case of a hardship or special circumstance, parents should speak with the principal. Superintendent Dr. Harrison will make the final decision of whether or not the student may change their location of learning.
As per revised CDC rules, desks will now be distanced three feet apart, not six, in order to accommodate the increasing attendance. The floors will be marked with yellow tape to indicate where the desks should remain. Each desk will have a three-sided plastic barrier attached to it and will be cleaned nightly. Additionally, each class will have assigned seats so that the district can conduct contact tracing as needed.
Some aspects of the hybrid system will remain. Students will need to continue to fill out the daily COVID-19 survey. The hallways will be one-directional, and the students and staff will continue to follow the one-directional stairways as well.
Mask breaks will also still be available for students; however, they will now be strictly outdoors.
In addition, the cafeteria will continue to offer free lunches to all students, and the seating in the cafeteria will remain at six feet between all students to maintain safety. Additionally, there will be access to tented outdoor seating with newly purchased Adirondack chairs.
Surveillance testing will be administered to 5% of the students and staff by medical professionals twice a month using a non-invasive lower nasal swab.
