The doors to Lee County’s 97 brick-and-mortar public schoolhouses will open Monday for the first time in five months, ushering in some semblance of normalcy as threats of the COVID-19 virus carry on.
But it will be different and pose many challenges — something Superintendent Greg Adkins is first to admit.
“I still have a great deal of confidence that we’re going to be in a good place on Monday,” Adkins told the Lee County school board last week. “Now having said that, I think we all should be ready for, you know, not absolutely a smooth opening. I do not expect a smooth opening, but I also do expect us to be able to react quickly to be able to make adjustments as needed.”
In reaction to the pandemic and expectations from the state to re-open physical buildings, the district put in place new guidelines for in-person learning that are meant to slow the spread of germs on campus.
Families were also given the chance to sign their kids up for one of four learning models this fall. The choices include a face-to-face option, two virtual learning models and parent-led home schooling.
On Monday, a little less than half of the district’s nearly 85,000 students will be on campus.
More of our coverage:
- What life in the classroom could look like on school's first day
- How Lee County schools are planning to handle COVID-19-like symptoms on campus
- Lee County's re-opening plans require more cleaning, outside air in classrooms
The district says enrollment in these choices continues to change daily, but a headcount from Aug. 20 shows:
- 41,797 students want face-to-face instruction
- 33,425 students are enrolled in Lee Home Connect
- 8,773 students signed up for Lee Virtual School
- 2,818 students chose parent-led home schooling
For those coming back to campus, the district has added new cleaning procedures, tweaked air flow, removed extra classroom furniture, promoted physical distancing when possible and mandated that face masks be worn on buses and in school.
Face masks will be available for employees and students, but those who bring their own from home need to keep in mind that the mask should cover the nose and the mouth.
Also:
- neck gaiters need to be double layered.
- face shields are allowed, but a person must also wear a traditional face mask at the same time.
- face bandannas are prohibited
Masks can be taken off when eating, drinking or taking part in outdoor or strenuous activities, like P.E. and recess.
The district has been clear in saying that there are no punitive consequences for a student not wearing a mask, but schools will explain to kids the public health concerns that necessitated them.
Should a student or employee develop COVID-like symptoms during the school day, or test positive for the virus, a plan is in place to handle the situation and alert the Department of Health so contact tracing can begin.
More: Lee, Collier school districts differ in how they're handling cases
And: 250 kids attended in-person summer school in Lee, district says no illnesses reported
The district has also formed a plan to quarantine staff and students and shut down classrooms. In this case, instruction would transfer to Lee Home Connect, and the impacted areas would be sanitized so it can be re-opened after a two-week quarantine.
In general, schools will need to reach a 5% positive rate before an entire campus will be considered for closure, with an entire attendance zone or the full county needing to reach a positive rate of 25% before a shut-down order is made.
However, it could take just one or two positive cases to shut down an elementary classroom because it is harder to guarantee the little ones followed all the new guidelines.
How the district will report positive cases remains uncertain.
Last week, the superintendent announced it would track case-positive data daily in a log, similar to what is being shared by Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida SouthWestern State College.
Since then, the district has grappled with whether the dashboard could potentially out an employee or student for having the virus, ultimately violating the medical privacy act HIPPA or FERPA, which protects the privacy of student education records and information. Both have been cited as reasons to deny media requests for school-related case data.
Come Monday, though, a COVID-specific task force will be ready to help communicate across school departments when a positive case is confirmed. The group will monitor a yet-to-be-announced hotline number and email address for the public.
Schools will also get a better idea what staffing will be like on day one.
Adkins anticipates there will be “schools that are overstaffed and schools that are understaffed" on the first day of school, which will require "some shifting back and forth."
Like students, teachers were asked how they would like to come back to school, with the superintendent reporting that about two-thirds of the district’s 6,000 teachers chose to come back for face-to-face instruction.
More: Gateway High's portable campus opens Monday as construction hammers on at permanent site
More: Lee teachers are back at work prepping for in-person, virtual start to school
“The good news about the way the students selected and the way the teachers selected is that we think we’re going to make that match in the majority of cases,” Adkins said.
The district is working with teachers who “really need” to teach virtually, Adkins said, adding that the district should still be able to fill the needs for face-to-face instruction.
But in the days leading up to the first day, some teachers were told to pack up the rooms they just set up because the school they were assigned to no longer needed them. Those teachers were put into a surplus pool to be farmed out to schools who didn’t have enough educators to go around.
The district said this is related to how the student enrollment data continues to change between the in-person and virtual models.
Transportation is also impacted by the enrollment number, as the district is still not sure how many kids will actually take the bus this year.
Normally, about 55,000 students ride school buses, but about 75,000 are eligible.
Buses will run the normal 712 routes, stopping at 6,490 locations across the county. Throughout the day, that will add up to 34,792 stops.
Motorists should be aware that the large, yellow vehicles start rolling at 4:30 a.m. It will be 7 p.m. when the last activity bus is parked for the night.
Traffic will also be heavier near schools.
- High schools are open from 7:05 a.m. to 1:35 p.m.
- Middle schools start at 9:45 a.m. and dismiss at 4 p.m.
- Elementary schools, which vary by site, will start the day between 7:55 a.m. and 8:55 a.m. with dismissal times set between 2:10 p.m. and 3:10 p.m.
- The four K-8 schools run from 7:55 a.m. to 2:10 p.m.
Even with all the challenges ahead, the superintendent is still “excited” and “looking forward” to starting school.
“I’m just looking forward to that first day but knowing that it will probably come with its challenges,” Adkins said. “It’ll probably be a little rocky, but I think we’ll sort through it.”
Follow along with our back-to-school coverage at news-press.com.
Previous coverage: Uncertainty continues for Lee County teachers, days ahead of start of school
And: Uncertainty for Lee County school employees as schools look at reopening
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