MOUNT VERNON — County schools are starting to release their reopening plans for the start of the 2020-21 school year and the Knox County Career Center is no different.
The plan, which was approved by the KCCC board of education last Thursday, includes social distancing and face mask guidelines that are in line with other county schools. Katherine Greenich, superintendent of KCCC, said that they are planning on opening on their scheduled start dates — Aug. 17 for 10th and 11th graders and Aug. 18 for all other students — based on the current information available and the ‘yellow’ status of the county.
“We are committed to our vision of preparing students for success with hands-on learning and the opportunity to obtain industry credentials,” Greenich said. “We are working closely with our local districts as we all work toward having plans that are agile enough to adjust as needed. We are preparing a variety of delivery methods that we can adapt to state guidelines and partner districts’ plans.”
When it comes to the individual career tech labs, Greenich said the Ohio Department of Education is directing them to look at the governor’s restart plans for each sector for best practices.
“We are reviewing what was presented by ODE regarding career tech labs,” she said. “They are basically giving the governor’s restart plans for salons, businesses, restaurants, et cetera, and saying that we should train students in the respective areas that they are training for.”
Like other schools, there will be a no visitor policy. This means there won’t be any customers either for certain services, such as cosmetology, which isn’t uncommon at the start of the year anyway as students are learning and getting acclimated, Greenich said. She said they will look over how customer service will be handled around September or October and re-evaluate how the school is progressing, and the status of the county.
The career center is still working out the details for the basics, but they are pretty much the same as other county schools. Students will return 5 days a week for in-person instruction and each student will be provided a school laptop. Bussing will be available to career center students based on their home school transportation arrangements. Masks will be required in the common areas, in hallways, on the bus and anytime social distancing isn’t possible. The career center is providing one solid color mask to each student, and a student’s facial covering should follow the student handbook dress policy.
Students will be required to do a daily health assessment before reporting to school. The school is also working on a cleaning and sanitation plan for classrooms and the buildings. Greenich said they are working on developing a plan to release to parents later this week.
