Centerburg presents a plan for students, staff for the school year
Joshua Morrison/Mount Vernon News
Centerburg High School
CENTERBURG — A long and hearty discussion was held Monday night at the Centerburg Local Schools board of education meeting between the board members and concerned community members surrounding their reopening plans.
Superintendent Mike Hebenthal presented the board with their current reopening plans for the 2020-21 school year. The plans, he said, were developed after sitting down with Knox Public Health and other county superintendents. While KPH does not have to officially approve the plans, Hebenthal said the official plans will be released hopefully this morning after KPH makes sure they comply with the current state recommendations.
“We put in things that we thought were pertinent, needed to be in there,” Hebenthal said. “We will be able to open school will all students in attendance that want to attend. If you don’t want to attend, you can do remote learning.”
The plan, which was approved by the school board at the meeting, will follow the American Association of Pediatrics recommendation of keeping students 3 to 6 feet apart to follow social distance. When students in all grade levels are not able to follow the 3-foot distance, they will be required to wear a face-covering or mask. This includes when they are entering and exiting the buildings, when moving through the hallways, waiting in line in the cafeteria and when riding the bus.
Even though the school year will start as normal, Hebenthal mentioned that there will be some changes. The middle school will feel more like elementary school because students will be kept in small cohorts that will stay in one classroom and the teachers will rotate to them instead. There will be the exception of specials such as art and gym when it is more beneficial to move to another space.
At the high school level, he said there wasn’t a way of doing cohorts like in middle school because of the mixing of classes depending on the students' schedule.
“We still think they’ll be able to take all the classes they want to with the exception of music class because of the singing, playing of instruments, that’s an issue,” Hebenthal said. “Generally, we’re going to try. But, one thing we can’t do is we’re not going to have pep rallies. I don’t see any dances coming up anytime soon. ... So we’re going to try to have as normal as a year as we can.”
Several community members and parents in attendance at the meeting raised concerns regarding where the mask will be when not on a student, how remote learning will be like and how parents and students will self monitor their symptoms. These issues were touched on at the meeting but some topics, such as where masks will go when not on a student, will require some creativity on the part of the teacher. The remote learning, Hebenthal said, will be further flushed out when they can determine the number of students who will attend.
“We’re going to be dealing with some challenges. We need to do our best to try and protect our kids the best we can,” Hebenthal said.
Some of the challenges include trying to figure out the balancing act that comes with educating students and providing a place where they will feel safe enough to learn in. Challenges also include how to protect the well-being of the staff as well.
“I worry about our staff; I really, really worry about our staff,” Hebenthal said. “And so, how can we (open) and do the most reasonable things we can do to try to protect ourselves the best we can without crawling into a hole and just not do anything? That’s what we’re trying to do with this plan.”
The full policy and plan will be released onto the district website hopefully by this morning, Hebenthal said, after KPH gives it one final look over.
The board also amended the reopening policy, adding that the school will not travel to or receive any other schools from any counties deemed red by the state for safety reasons. This includes athletics and trips done by FFA and FFCLA. The board also:
•Authorized the superintendent to create and record a blended learning plan and/or remote learning plan to be filed with the Ohio Department of Education as required by special directives from the legislature due to COVID.
•Approved the negotiated agreement with the Centerburg Teacher’s Association for the 2020-21 contract year.
•Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Centerburg Teacher’s Association concerning payment of supplemental.
•Approved META Solutions to advertise and receive bids on the board’s behalf as per the specifications submitted for the cooperative purchase of a 72-passenger conventional school bus.
•Approved the transfer of John Morgan from the elementary principal position to the middle school principal position.
•Approved the 2020-2021 athletics and teacher handbooks, along with various contracts, employment of bus drivers, volunteers and supplementals.
