School opening plans: Date is chosen, then pushed back a week

UPDATE:

County schools Superintendent Haydee Robinson announced this morning that the reopening of schools has been delayed to Monday, Aug. 24. This was a decision the School Board made during its recessed meeting Wednesday night.

ORIGINAL STORY, PUBLISHED JULY 29:

Aug. 17 is the target date to reopen county schools.

The School Board agreed on that date during its July 22 meeting. Previously, Aug. 10 had also been considered.

Superintendent Haydee Robinson explained that school officials had settled on the 17th, but that date could change depending on circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The school board also approved a two-segment plan for in-person attendance, in which Cohort A students will attend school on Monday and Tuesday and will take part in remote learning Wednesday-Friday. Cohort B students will attend school on Thursday and Friday and will be in remote learning Monday-Wednesday.

Wednesdays will be used for teacher planning, student remedial work, deep cleaning of facilities and delivery of school meals.

Further, the board approved a recommendation to allow 100 percent remote learning options, semester by semester, for parents who have requested it for their children.

Also, the board agreed to a recommendation that school employees wear face masks in hallways; that they wear face masks in classrooms when six feet of distance is not possible; and that employees who cannot wear a mask for health reasons get approval case by case.

Another topic was paid emergency leave for employees because of the virus emergency. It was explained that staff will be able to take paid leave up to 80 hours if they are personally required to go into quarantine; if they experience symptoms; if they are caring for a child who cannot access child care services because the virus has shut those services down; and similar factors.

It was also noted that clarification of the paid leave policy was needed because some employees were concerned that they might be forced to use up their personal leave time in an emergency once schools reopen.