Southern Boone School District to hold public meetings over return plans
ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)
ABC 17 News sat down with the Superintendent of Southern Boone School District Christopher Felmlee to talk about the upcoming school year and how it might differ from the last.
Felmlee covered topics including vaccines, COVID-19 precautions, masking and academic changes for the approximately 1,900 students who attend Southern Boone.
The first day of school for Southern Boone is set for Sept. 7.
Southern Boone School District Public Reentry Meetings
The Southern Boone School District will be hosting public reentry meetings on Monday, Aug. 23 at 5 p.m. and Thursday, Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. at its central office board room. The meetings will discuss the reentry plan and take questions from the community about the upcoming school year.
For anyone who wishes to participate in the meeting virtually during Monday's meeting, a Zoom link can be found here.
Meeting ID: 950 2193 8544
Passcode: 153248
Vaccines
In Southern Boone School District's return to in-person learning plan, the district says it recommends everyone be vaccinated.
"We have promoted vaccinations," Felmlee said. "We've had at least four clinics here locally in the school district for both students as well as our employees and the public."
COVID-19 Precautions and Protocols
The district says when possible, Southern Boone will "ensure physical distancing." The district will be grouping people into cohorts in grades pre-k through 5th. This grouping will be used during lunchtime.
Students in grades 6-12 will have plexiglass partitions when social distancing isn't possible. During lunchtime, the district will have assigned seats.
The return plan includes increased sanitation measures with the help of additional custodial staff. Hand sanitizer will also be widely available throughout the schools.
The return plan outlines exposures to COVID-19 and requires siblings of students who have symptoms of COVID-19 or are positive for the virus to also quarantine. The district is working closely with the Boone County Health Department to complete contact tracing when individuals are exposed to the virus.
Masks
Masks are currently not required in the Southern Boone School District.
"For right now we don't have a mask mandate," Felmlee said. "But as the cases increase, that is something I will reconsider."
Outlined in the return plan, masks will be required if COVID-19 related exposures and positive cases reach 25% of a building's population. The superintendent will tell the district if this change is made.
If the health department puts a health order into place, the district will comply with the order.
"We're monitoring the COVID situation and the environment that we're in daily, if not twice daily," Felmlee said. "We're working together very closely with our administrators and our team of nurses to make the best choices possible for the district as well as our students and faculty."
Per CDC regulations, masks will be required for all students while on the bus.
Academic Changes and Impacts
This past year, students all over the country have had to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic. Superintendent Felmlee hopes to be better prepared for this year compared to last.
This summer, the district saw a record number of students attend summer school.
"I'm really concerned about academic achievement, student achievement, and just making sure that we've got the resources available for the kids who need it the most," Felmlee said.
The district has hired additional staff this year to help students get caught up. Some positions are still available on the district's website.
Felmlee said there were some positive changes in learning and teaching during the pandemic.
"We've really maximized tools such as Google Classrooms," Felmlee said. "[We've] really gotten proficient in using these tools and they are actually helping us to monitor student achievement better than we were before."
The district says it will be reevaluating the return plan every six months for possible changes.
