Neillsville District Administrator Discusses September Reopening Plan Approved by the Neillsville School Board
Sunday, August 9th, 2020 -- 11:32 AM
-With the start of the school year right around the corner and the coronavirus pandemic still in full force, many districts are working on a reopening plan to get kids back into school. Most Wisconsin school districts have been closed since the end of March with students doing at home learning online. I spoke with Neillsville’s District Administrator, John Gaier, and he provided more detail on the reopening plan that was approved by the Neillsville School Board on Monday, August 3rd.Riley: “Last time we talked, we talked about the proposed reopening plan for the Neillsville School District. A plan was brought before the board on Monday and the board did approve that plan, with a few changes from what we initially discussed. So, starting out could you go over that plan once again, so Neillsville residents know exactly what the beginning of this next school year is going to look like for Neillsville students.”
John: “First, I think the most important thing that everybody needs to understand is that our board is going to systemically look at this on a month-by-month basis. So, this reopening plan is for the month of September. And I think it’s important that everybody keep that in mind. At our September School Board Meeting, we will be relooking at all that data and information is out there and very possibly adjusting that plan for October. So, we’ll be doing this on a month-by-month basis, which I think is important. So, we’ll be sending out monthly calendars ahead of time, so parents are aware of those things. But keep in mind that these plans will probably change on a monthly basis based on all the new information that comes in. Because, as we know, this is a very fluid situation that we’re in.”
“To start the school year, on September 1st we will be in school. Our daily schedule for September will be that kids attending 4K-grade 6, will have classes from 8am-3:15pm, grades 7-12 will be 8am-3:20pm and the doors will be open for kids to get into the building at about 7:40am everyday. Although, the vestibules, or entryways to the building, will be open so kids can be inside there prior to 7:40am. The 4-year-old Kindergarten plan for September, and we think will continue for the full year, is that we’ll divide the kids into two groups, a group A and a group B. One of those groups will attend all day on Mondays and Wednesdays and a second group would be in attendance at school all day Tuesdays and Thursdays with Fridays off. For grades 5K-6th for September, we are planning on bringing those kids back for days a week, Monday-Thursday. They would attend all 4 days. We believe we can do that because we can keep those kids pretty much grouped together without having to intermingle groups very often, so we believe we can safely bring those kids back for 4 days a week to start in September. And then the grades 7-12 plan for September is to have those kids broke up into two groups. We would bring one group in on Mondays and Wednesdays, a second group on Tuesdays and Thursdays with some remote learning practice on the days that they are not in attendance. And it’s important for parents to know that with remote learning, there’s not going to be an expectation that kids are going to be working a full 7 hour school day in their remote learning. It will be simply remote learning practice that may take 60-90 minutes a day for kids, just to continue to practice what they had learned on the days they were in attendance.”
“We are also providing a remote learning option for any families that do not want to send their kids to school at the beginning of the school year and that want to stay in connection with us. We will be providing remote learning curriculum for them based on their individual needs. So, if there are parents that want their kids to be able to remote and watch instruction in our classrooms, we have the technology to do that. If they want more paper/pencil curriculum, we can do that as well. And we will do that on a case-by-case basis. We want to work with families that are concerned about sending their kids back too early and want to take that remote learning option. So, we want to do that as well.”
“It’s also important to note that on the first two weeks of school, we lose the first two Mondays. September 1st is on a Tuesday, so on that first week of school, instead of the Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday group, we want to go the days of Tuesday-Friday. And then in the second week, it’s Labor Day weekend and so we want to make sure that kids get their 4 days that week as well, so we will be going Tuesday-Friday that second week as well. And then in the third week of September, we’ll be starting that Monday-Thursday process. So, that is the initial start up plan.”
“It’s also important to note that we normally have an open house for staff. We’re going to be doing that virtually this year, so each building will be providing an open house through a virtual process that we will be sending out to parents. So, we’ll continue to do that as well. I know that people are going to be asking about student pictures because we were going to do that during Open House. We are rescheduling all that with the picture taking company and we’ll be getting information out to parents about that as well.”
“It’s important, I think, to know that our ultimate goal is to get kids back in school full time, everyday as much as we possibly can. But, we believe that, at this point, starting in a safer way and not exposing the kids too quickly in this environment will allow us to get to that point without ever having to close again and those are certainly the goals that we have as a district.”
Riley: “I think we should touch on too that, with the governor’s statewide mask mandate, the Neillsville School District will be asking students and staff to wear masks during the day, correct?”
John: “That is correct and we are going to have a number of options for face coverings. One of the things that I have found to be really heartwarming is that we did start summer school on August 3rd. So, we have about 170-200 kids in the building, all wearing masks. Kids of all ages. And it does not bother them a bit. They have just been incredibly cooperative and many excited to wear the masks in school! So, it has worked out really well and we hope at some point, obviously, that we get this COVID-19 under control and that we can get back to more normal ways of doing things. For everybody’s safety and, again, to make sure we never have to close again, we are going with the mask mandate at this point. And again, we will have options for what type of face coverings kids can use.”
Riley: “You touched on this earlier, but I think it’s important, again, to stress that the board will be reviewing this plan from month-to-month and parents should expect changes because as you say, and as we’ve been saying since March, but it’s a very fluid situation and things can change rather quickly.”
John: “They certainly can! And we are, I think, better prepared than we’ve ever been for these types of situations after what we’ve gone through this past spring. Our staff has really been working hard. And what we’re asking our staff to do is to plan two week lessons in advance and making sure that they are planning for both in person and remote, so if, heaven forbid, we do have to go all remote, we are ready to do that at the drop of a hat, but we also have lessons ready for kids that will be in the building and, hopefully, all kids that will be coming back to the building on a regular basis all the time.”
Riley: “Another thing that I wanted to touch on, and we talked about this last time too, another good thing to keep in mind for the parents of the students is that your attitude is positive about how this is going to work. Because, obviously, this is going to be a stressful situation for staff and administration and students and parents, so keeping a positive attitude, as we mentioned last time, is important. Do you agree?”
John: Absolutely! One thing that I’ve always been proud of with the School District of Neillsville and the families that live here is the bond that they have about supporting their schools. And, at this time, the partnerships between parents and school is going to be more needed than ever. And attitude is going to be a huge part of that. I think everybody understands that none of us want to be in this situation and having to come up with these difficult choices that have to be made in order to keep kids safe and our community safe. But everybody’s attitude about how we work through this is going to be vitally important because the kids are going to reflect our attitude. That has always been true. That kids reflect the attitude of the adults in their lives and if everybody just goes at this with a calm and patient attitude, the kids will get through this very, very well. Again, I reflect on what’s happening in summer school. The kids have just been awesome about the mask wearing and the safety protocols. And our one way hallways that we’ve made up for our physical spacing, they’ve been just great following that. And I anticipate when all of our kids come back in September, they will do that as well. Again, it’s that partnership between the families and the school that are going to make this thing work well.”
Riley: “Is there anything else? Anything else you’d like to touch on that we may not have already discussed?”
John: “Just that we will be sending out a mailing to all of our families that will have all of the details of the reopening plan. It will talk about our meal plans, our transportation plans, all of the safety protocols that we will be doing to make sure that kids stay safe and all of the options that are going to be out there for learning options for them. We’ll also have an update out there about extracurricular activities. We’re following the guidance of the Cloverbelt Conference and WIAA for athletics. And we’ll also have some adjustments possibly to our other co-curricular activities that we have. That information will be out there. And, again, I implore anybody that has any questions to certainly give me a call at any time and we will certainly be glad to talk through that. I just really appreciate the people that showed up at our last board meeting. The people that have reached out sharing their ideas and concerns about what September might look like, but, again, as you had mention and as I had mentioned earlier, the important thing to remember is this is a month-by-month process that we’re going through with the ultimate goals of getting kids back in school and doing it as safely as we possibly can so we don’t ever have to do it again.”
The following is a copy of the district’s reopening plan provided to me by Neillsville Administrator John Gaier:
School District of Neillsville Reopening Plan for September 2020
Based on guidance from federal, state, and local health departments, numerous educational agencies, legal counsel, insurance providers, and surveys of family and staff, the School District of Neillsville has developed this reopening plan for September. The Board of Education will be reviewing and revising plans on a monthly basis based on the latest information available. The goals of the district’s plan are to keep all students, staff, and community members as safe as possible, and to try to assure that school buildings will never have to be fully closed again. The district’s ultimate goal is to get all students back to school full-time once the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic allows.
Transportation Plans
Bus capacity will be one student per seat, however, students from the same household may sit together. There will be assigned seats and loading and unloading protocols. Face coverings will be required for students riding the bus. There will be increased daily and weekly cleaning protocols for all buses.
Student Meal Plans
Full pay, reduced, and free meals will begin as normal on September 1st, unless a new bill is passed to continue to allow us to provide all meals for free. The district will deliver enough meals to students not in school on Tuesdays and Fridays to cover the week, if requested by families. Meal schedules at school will be developed to allow social distancing for students while eating. More information will be provided in the district mailing coming soon.
Daily Operation Plans
A daily self-screening symptom checklist will be provided for all families, students and staff. No one should come to school with any symptoms without first contacting the school for approval. Face coverings are required for all students and staff. Masks and shields will be provided by the district. Cleaning instructions will also be provided. The district will limit non-essential visitors and visits. Any approved visitors must wear masks. The district will regulate access to the buildings, and directional flow in the buildings.
Physical Spaces Plan
Barriers may be used in public spaces where advisable. There may also be separation markings in high-traffic areas. Safety signage for hand hygiene, protective measures and symptoms awareness will be displayed throughout the buildings. Bottle filling stations will be available throughout the buildings, but water fountains will not be available. Students should bring their own water bottle.
Healthy Environments Plan
The district has established increased daily and weekly protocols for cleaning and disinfecting. Staff will teach and reinforce hand hygiene. Modified building layouts will include adjusted student traffic patterns. Face coverings are required while indoors.
Extra-Curricular Activities Update
The district will rely on guidance from WIAA and Cloverbelt Conference to safely hold athletic practices, competitions, and events as allowable. Activities and events may be postponed or adjusted to meet health guidelines and/or current conditions in school or the community.
Points of Contact Regarding Covid-19
Points of contact for any COVID-19 issues involving students are the building principals, and Sam Warden, CNA. Superintendent John Gaier, Board of Education Office, is the point of contact for staff concerns or questions.
Daily Time Schedule for September
Grades 4K ??" 6: 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Grades 7 ??" 12: 8:00 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.
Doors to enter school buildings will open for students at 7:40 a.m. each day. Outside doors to enter the vestibules will open at 7:30 a.m. each day.
4K Plan for September
Children will be divided in to two groups (M/W, T/TH). Students will go to school all day, and have Fridays off. The first two weeks of September students will attend on T/TH or W/F.
Grades 5K ??" 6 Plan for September
All students attend in person four days per week (M-TH). The first two weeks of September students will attend T-F. On Fridays there will be remote learning practice, deep cleaning and sanitizing, staff outreach, professional development, and collaboration.
Grades 7 ??" 12 Plan for September
Students will attend school in person in one of two groups, Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday, with remote learning practice at home the other two days. The first two weeks of September students will attend on T/TH or W/F. There will be seven class periods per day. Friday includes remote student advisory and intervention for students in need, staff collaboration and professional development. Lockers will not be used to begin the year, so students may use backpacks during the day.
Remote Learning Option
Any family that would like to continue to have their child/children learning from home will have that option. The staff will work on a remote learning plan based on the needs of the individual student. Families will have the flexibility to move from remote learning to returning to school at any time.
Open House
The Open House scheduled for August 25, 2020, will be postponed. Each building principal and their staff will be creating a Virtual Open House that will be shared with all families.
Student Pictures
The district is working with the picture taking company to schedule dates for student pictures to be taken. Information to families will be provided as soon as dates are scheduled.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.