Blair Oaks Board of Education takes up return plans
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
ABC 17 News sat down with Superintendent of Blair Oaks R-II School District Jim Jones to talk about the upcoming school year and how it might differ from the last.
Jones covered topics including vaccines, COVID-19 precautions, masking and academic changes for the nearly 1,250 students who attend Blair Oaks. The first day of school is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 23.
Watch the full interview with Jones below.
Last year, the district didn't have mask requirements for elementary school students. Students in older grades, including five through eight, were asked to wear masks on the bus, during passing periods, and where social distancing wasn't possible.
"We did have kids that wore face masks and our kids are very respectful of students that want to wear face coverings," Jones said.
The district kept its COVID-19 protocols through the end of the school year and then lifted them for summer school in June. During summer school Blair Oaks documented two COVID-19 cases in students and one in a teacher.
Jones noted that attendance was up from last year but he didn't believe the pandemic played a huge part in the increase.
"Summer school is extremely popular," Jones said. "Sometimes it's all about the learning, sometimes it's all about socialization, sometimes it's about a combination of everything...our driver's education program."
Jones said the ultimate goal is to get things back to normal.
"I'd like to say everything's going to be back to normal," Jones said. "But I'd be a little naive to think that we are not going to have some things to consider moving forward."
The school board was scheduled to take up the district's return plans at a meeting Tuesday. The board must approve the plan before it is finalized. You can read the full draft here.
"I found out this, we're not going to get on a consensus on how we're going to get this school year started," Jones said. "What we're going to do is the best thing that we can to positively impact the students that live in our district."
Superintendent Jones also talked about other topics including snow days, after-school activities and student attendance policies.
Watch ABC 17 News This Morning at 6 to learn more about the district's return plans. The full interview with Dr. Jones will be available later Thursday morning.
