Area schools working on plans for fall semester

All four area school districts are in the midst of planning various pandemic protocols for the fall semester, with two of the four just now in the process of welcoming new superintendents.

Jody Phillips will officially become Aurora’s new superintendent July 1, with Nick Mumm making the same transition in Giltner.

“The Aurora Public Schools recognizes the need for our students to be back in school, not only for their benefit, but for our community and economy,” Phillips said. “While keeping the health and safety of students and staff at the forefront of all decisions, we will be working diligently throughout the month of July to finalize plans for the beginning of the school year. We will be working closely with local health officials to develop a safe plan for students to return to school. As soon as plans are finalized, parents and community members will receive regular communication/guidance on how school will begin.”

“Hampton is committed to doing whatever it takes to have students safely back in our buildings this fall for classes,” reported Hampton Supt. Holly Herzberg. “It will look different than any other year, but we are confident we can provide a safe educational setting for our students.”

Hampton’s fall plan will be the among the topics discussed at the July 13th school board meeting.

High Plains Community School continues to work on a plan to return to school as well.

“Administratively, we continue to create protocol for our return to school plan,” said Supt. Brian Tonniges. “HPC has also had one group committee planning session which involved staff, parents, and board members. We have struggled a little bit with wanting to get a plan ramped up while also waiting for the most recent information. I know that staff, students, parents and community are starting to seek answers on what school will look like, but as we have seen in the past, information is updated, DHM’s are adjusted, and new regulations come out so we want to make sure that any shared plan is the closest plan that follows any new updated information and guidelines.”

Tonniges added that the plan will begin to progress more aggressively during the second week of July.

“We want the framework of the plan to be laid out to the board of education by the July 13th meeting,” he said.

CDHD offering support

The Central District Health Department is ready and willing to offer input to local school districts now planning their fall schedules and pandemic protocols, though final decisions will be left up to each individual district.

Teresa Anderson, the CDHD’s executive director, addressed the topic during a general pandemic overview she presented last week to the Aurora City Council.

“During the middle of all this people would say to me, ‘I’m glad I don’t have your job,’ Anderson noted. “But right now I’m saying I’m glad I’m not a school administrator because it’s really difficult for them. We’ve been meeting regularly with Education Service Units so we can help advise, but we are very respectful that the schools are autonomous and that they make their own decisions.”

School officials have many factors to consider when establishing their fall calendars and COVID protocol, Anderson said, including information that is subject to change based on statewide testing data and federal health guidelines.

Reading through the current Center for Disease Control guidelines, for example, Anderson reported that schools are advised to close down if they have just one student test positive for COVID-19.

“Our superintendents are not excited about that, nor are we,” she said. “It doesn’t seem practical to close even a classroom because people were exposed and have to quarantine for 14 days. You might have kids who are never going to get into school to get the education they need.”

Anderson advised that she is monitoring CDC reports and updates and expects to have more current guidelines available soon, which her office will share with ESUs.

“What we also hear is don’t tell us what Omaha Public Schools are doing or what Lancaster County (Lincoln) schools are doing, because we’re not them,” she continued. “We don’t have the same number of students and it’s totally different. The schools need to determine what’s practical and what they can do without further disrupting the education process. That’s really where our focus is right now.”

Anderson shared that the CDHD’s current plan is to have a color-coded index system, which will alert ESU’s of the current COVID status.

“As we look at that they can talk about what they need to do,” she said of individual school districts. “Having two cases (of positive COVID tests) in a red zone or in a green zone could mean something entirely different. The COVID index right now takes into account a bunch of different factors. We have to work through all that and again this is learn as you go because there is nobody who has paved this path before us.”