Jackson County School Board approves reopening plan, without mask mandate
The Jackson County School Board voted unanimously Monday night to approve the district’s reopening plan, which will bring kids back to school Aug. 6 and offer distance learning options for any family that wants it.
But the plan could change depending on guidance from the state. Earlier Monday, Gov. Tate Reeves said he would review school reopening plans after the deadline for districts to submit them on July 31 and would “make decisions accordingly.”
“I would consider anything that I believe would help us slow the spread of the virus so that we can more quickly get back to a more normal environment,” Reeves said.
In an interview ahead of the board meeting, Jackson County Superintendent John Strycker said the ambiguity from the state was making it more difficult to plan for the coming school year.
“I would like the governor’s office to clarify exactly what they want, whether they want school to be delayed or not delayed,” Strycker said. “It seems recommendations come out from a lot of different groups, and that’s what’s frustrating people.”
Assuming school does open on Aug. 6, the plan approved by the board involves traditional learning, with most students “physically present in school in an environment as close to normal as possible.”
Strycker said the plan was the product of hundreds of hours of work by nearly 30 district employees over the last four months. Administrators will continue to meet weekly to reevaluate the situation, he said.
Families can choose distance learning for any reason, whether a medical concern or anxiety about COVID-19. Students who choose distance learning can either learn virtually, if they have a computer and internet access at home, or via paper packets.
Strycker said the district anticipates about 5% of students will choose the virtual option. If that figure remains steady, he said, Jackson County has enough equipment that participants could check out devices for online learning from their schools.
Masks will not be required at school for either students or staff. That goes against the recommendation by the Mississippi chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics that masks be mandatory for all at school buildings.
Buses will operate as normal, including with students sitting two to a bench, but with assigned seating.
Parents are asked to take their children’s temperature each morning and keep them home if they have a fever above 100.4. Some other districts, like Harrison County, have said temperature checks might be a part of students’ daily arrival procedure.
Too much normalcy?
A secondary school teacher in Jackson County, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she fears repercussions to her job, said the district plan strikes her and many of her colleagues as too limited.
“I feel like it’s very similar to how we would have opened last August,” she said.
She’s been told that one of her classes will have 30 students. Social distancing will be impossible, and she’s frustrated by the lack of a mask mandate.
She’s also concerned about the potential emotional toll on her teenage students if a case of COVID-19 can be traced to their school community.
“We have a lot of kids in our community that live with grandparents and older relatives,” she said. “Are they going to take it home to grandparents, and then what if the grandparents don’t fully recover? How is the kid going to live with that if they realize that they brought it home?”
Strycker said officials at two local hospitals who have been advising the district said the number of cases among youth under 18 is low. But he knows that that is likely to change after Aug. 6.
“We’re understanding that the numbers will go up when we go to school, more than likely,” Strycker said. “You’re getting 9,600 kids together.”
