School board approves Return to Learn Plan

OSKALOOSA – The Oskaloosa School Board is preparing for the school year’s return, though by any reasonable standards, it will not be considered regular. At the regular monthly meeting of the Board on Tuesday, July 14, the Board heard from Superintendent Paula Wright on what the District’s plans are for the upcoming school year. Wright said that the District will welcome students in person on August 24.

“We passionately believe the best model is for students to be in school. They’re going to gain the most socially, emotionally, behaviorally, academically in school,” Wright said.

However, she added that the District is putting in place guidelines to monitor the possible spread of the COVID-19 virus and is prepared to act should there be an issue during the school year.

We have to keep everyone safe,” Wright said.

Wright opened the floor for discussion during her presentation on the Return to Learn Plan regarding how the District should proceed. One of the first issues brought up was whether or not students should be prescreened before proceeding with the school day. Members of the Board uniformly indicated that the District should prescreen students, which would include temperature checks. Students who have a temperature over a certain level would not be allowed to attend school until it was determined that they are not carrying the COVID-19 virus.

Another issue brought up was the use of facemasks by students and staff. Wright indicated that she was hesitant to require students to wear facemasks. However, when students can’t social distance, she did support language that states that students will be expected to wear masks should they be in a situation that they can’t social distance. Wright said that if language stating that facemasks are expected, as opposed to required, it would allow students to opt-out of wearing a mask, no questions asked.

“It is your choice,” Wright said. “I’m not going to suspend your child or chastise your child for not having it on,” she also said.

Members of the Board agreed, by consensus, that language expecting facemasks, as opposed to requiring them, would be best for the District.

Wright also said that there are plans in place for a hybrid system of educating students. It would be implemented so students would attend school part-time and the rest of the time virtually and a complete online learning system, to be put in place, should COVID-19 levels in the community rise to severe levels. In all cases, learning will be required for students, a change from spring when most learning opportunities were considered to be optional.

In the end, Wright cautioned that the plan is likely to change based on guidance from the State Department of Education.

During the discussion, board members Charlie Comfort and Carl Drost implored parents “to be smart” as the upcoming school year begins, and parents are put into a spot where they have to make decisions. The Board ultimately approved the Return to Learn Plan unanimously.

In other action, the Board:
· Approved a bid from TK Concrete for the Middle School Driveway Improvement project on a 6-1 vote, with board member Charlie Comfort voting no.
· Approved various hiring and transfers of staff.
· Approved a variety of new board policies related to the District’s educational learning and overall operations during public health emergencies. The new policy came at the recommendation of the Iowa Association of School Boards.

The next regular meeting of the Oskaloosa School Board will be on August 11, at 7 p.m., in the Board meeting room.

Posted by on Jul 16 2020. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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