Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Education

Oak Ridge schools go back to original start date

After hosting a public hearing on July 21 about a proposed early start date, the Oak Ridge R-6 School Board decided to push the beginning of school back to its original approved start date, Aug. 26.

The proposed early start date, Aug. 12, was chosen by the Board in an attempt to help students get caught up after missing several months of school this spring and help the District get in instruction days before a potential shutdown is necessary.

During the public hearing, community members stated they weren’t sure if the two extra weeks would be enough to make up for the lost classroom time and wondered if it would be safer to add the extra two weeks to the end of the school year.

Several community members also asked about the District’s reopening plan, which had not yet been released. Superintendent Adrian Eftink said the District had an initial plan in place in June, but that it has been changed significantly as new staff members have joined the District and they have seen other schools’ published plans.

Eftink said they didn’t release the June plan because they didn’t want confusion about what is and is not in the final plan. He added that the District plans on releasing the plan to parents early this week.

Parents spoke about not having a lot of time to make decisions on whether their children will attend Oak Ridge schools before it starts, especially as other schools have already released their plan. Some who spoke at the hearing said they had immuno-compromised family members living with the students.

Other parents asked specific questions about how school buses, large classes and walking through the hallways will work this fall.

“In the end, they are your kids,” Eftink said. “You have to make the best decision for your kids and the school district – we will try to provide the best opportunities we can for them.”

Another family at the hearing said they had scheduled and paid for a vacation that fell during the two extra weeks the District considered adding to the beginning of the school year. They worried about their child being further behind by missing the start of classes.

Before voting to go back to the original start date, several Board members said they could use the two weeks to help teachers and other staff members get more comfortable with the new safety procedures.

Board Member Whitney McFall said she thought the teachers could use the two weeks to better learn both the in-person plan and the plan for potential distance learning. “Right now we don’t have that virtual plan,” McFall said, adding that teachers may not be able to switch to distance learning when necessary if they started early.

Eftink said there are still issues with distance learning, with over 100 students in the District not currently having Internet access in their homes.  He also said offering a full-time virtual option to students is difficult because they don’t have any dedicated staff to pull from to be in charge of potential virtual students.

High-risk students will be figured out in a case-by-case and classroom-by-classroom basis, Eftink said. If there are just eight to 10 students that need to be taught virtually, Eftink said the District could work around them. He added that the District will not be able to handle dealing with 20 to 30 students across the District that has to be taught online without a staff member dedicated to helping these students.

Eftink did say they are going to try to get Cape Girardeau County CARES Act funding to purchase cameras to record teachers for the students who can’t physically come to the schools.

“I wish I walked away with a greater feeling that there was one theme in that room,” Board President Rob Grayhek said. “I thought I heard two.” Grayhek said he thought some of the families were ready to go back to school right now and others were worried about starting without a solid plan.

Jay Forness covers education, county government and community events for The Cash-Book Journal. He graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in multimedia journalism and has lived in Jackson for the past five years. He can be reached at cbjedit@socket.net.

You May Also Like

City News

A 26-year-old Mississippi man was disarmed, arrested and charged with murder following an early morning shooting spree on Wednesday, Dec. 22, at the Town...

City News

A 58-year-old Jackson man drowned after going into Jackson City Park’s Rotary Lake during the July 4th firework show Sunday night. The man’s body...

City News

Americans frustrated by the policies of the current administration in Washington have let their feelings be known in large sporting venues across the country...

Education

Former Jackson High School athletes will soon be honored in a new hall of fame program approved by the Jackson R-2 School Board during...