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The Cole County R-5 School District in Eugene has three tentative plans for the fall semester.
"Due to constant changes over the summer, we know we have to prepare for all possibilities," Superintendent Dawna Burrow wrote in a letter to parents. "Therefore, there are currently three learning plans developed for the 2020-2021 school year. At this time, I am hopeful of us being able to start school as normal as possible and have a relatively calm year."
Plan A is to start school with some COVID-19 safety precautions, such as keeping all elementary classrooms in personal "pods" for the entire day, eating lunch in the classroom and assigned seating, and special class teachers coming to the classrooms instead of students going to different classrooms. Junior high and high school students will social distance as much as possible and are encouraged to wear masks when social distancing is not possible, according to the letter.
Plan B is to have a hybrid model of in-person and remote learning. All students would learn remotely on Mondays, some students would attend school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and others would attend on Wednesdays and Fridays, according to the letter. Students would learn remotely on the days they are not in the building. Since not all students would be at school on the same day, this plan would allow for full social distancing and cleaning between the groups.
If the district decides on Plan B, information will be sent to each household to let families plan which days their students will be in school. This plan does not apply to grades K-2 because they can social distance with three classrooms at each level. It also will not apply to IEP students or Title I students.
With Plans A and B, custodians and staff will also "continue vigilant disinfecting and cleaning strategies," the letter states.
Plan C is to have 100 percent remote learning with a mix of paper packets and electronic learning. Every student would be given time each day to meet with their teachers through Zoom, Google Classroom or phone calls.
"We learned a lot in the two and a half months last spring and will have very specific guidelines for staff and students if this plan is needed," Burrow wrote in the letter.
No matter which plan the district uses when school starts, the plan may change to any of these three plans throughout the year based on local health department recommendations, the letter states.
"I do not intend to sound uncertain about what is to happen in August, but situations tend to change rapidly since March, and unfortunately, I don't see any end in sight," Burrow wrote in the letter.
The district will communicate updates to families and will list updates on the "COVID-19" section on the district's website, coler-v.k12.mo.us, according to Burrow's letter.