Jefferson City Schools to release re-opening plan Wednesday after receiving staff and parent feedback

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City School District plans to release its back to school plan Wednesday.

The Jefferson City School Board met Monday. While the plan wasn't on the agenda, the board received several updates from school leaders about the progress.

Missouri's schools shut down their buildings mid-semester this spring as the novel coronavirus continued to spread. Education continued in a remote format. Now districts are preparing for how to return the classroom next month while providing options for parents and students worried about going back amid increasing COVID-19 cases.

The chief of learning for the district Dr. Shelby Scarbrough said administration has been working day in and day out on the plan.

"I think it's important to note two words: being fluid and being flexible," Scarbrough said. "And focusing on our processes so at any point we have to pivot, we can at least fall back on our process."

The superintendent Dr. Larry Linthacum said staff is going to continue to work on the plan Tuesday before it is set to be released on Wednesday.

"At the end of the day we want to ensure a safe learning environment that's conducive to learning for everyone," Linthacum said. "These are unchartered waters for all of us."

The district polled parents and staff about what they would like to see in the re-opening plan, providing a variety of options.

Of the 3,534 parents who completed the survey, 48 percent said going back to in-person learning was their top choice.

With increased sanitation practices, 77 percent of parents said they would "very likely" or "likely" send their students back to the classroom. Meanwhile, 77.2 percent of families polled answered the same if social distancing measures were in place.

For temperature checks, 81 percent of parents favored the practice.

A mask-wearing policy is where the data starts to flip. The results show 48.7 percent of parents polled said they "likely" or "very likely" would send their students back to school if there was a mask order.

But 31.3 percent of parents disagreed, saying they were "unlikely" or "very unlikely" to send their students back to school with a mask policy. The rest answered "neither."

Parents answers similarly to a question about hybrid learning, where students would spend two days in class and the other three remote learning.

Parents largely opposed complete virtual education though -- 60.7 percent of the parents said they were unlikely to request virtual learning, with 25.7 saying they would be likely to request it.

JC Schools staff were also polled about various topics on reopening.

Out of the 789 staff members who responded to the survey, the majority want to return to in-person education this fall. Many comments were made about missing students and wanting to ensure the district can provide the education students deserve.