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By Seth Romsa
Staff Writer 

School board approves 17-page plan to re-open

 

August 6, 2020



WORLAND – Washakie County School District No. 1 Superintendent David Nicholas presented a plan to the board at a special meeting that would allow students to attend school beginning later this month.

Nicholas told the board last week at a special meeting July 30 at the Washakie County Fair that the re-opening plan has yet to be approved by the state or county, but he was seeking the approval of the board because he feels they should approve the plan that brings children back into the buildings in less than two weeks.

Masks were noted as an important part of the plan at the school board meeting July 15, but Nicholas said to the board and crowd in attendance that there “isn’t any situation” where a kid or teacher wears a mask from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

Nicholas said that one of the main concerns that was holding back approval from county health officer Dr. Ed Zimmerman at the time was regarding screening of students. Nicholas also told the board that Governor Mark Gordon wants schools to observe social distancing, or to wear masks when social distancing is not able to be observed.

Nicholas discussed with the board an idea of cohorts being established in schools which may lead to the potential of mask rules loosening in the district if kids are to stay in assigned groups throughout the year.

Curriculum director Jody Rakness discussed the difference between online school and remote learning if a child is infected with COVID-19.

Rakness told the board that the online program, Washakie Online, has been a part of the district since 2008. She said students may sign up for it and transition to it at any point in the semester from “brick and mortar” or may transition from the online program back to “brick and mortar” if either situation does not work for the family.

Rakness said that one problem that many families face when attempting to transition to Washakie Online is the requirement of an at home “learning coach” which may be a relative to help students with certain tasks such as learning to read and other subjects. A Wyoming certified teacher from Worland is available as a part of the learning but the learning coach is a necessary part of the process.

Remote learning is learning that coincides with “brick and mortar” lessons should a student get contaminated with the virus. Nicholas and Rakness understand that the online lessons being provided for potentially quarantined students in conjunction with in-person learning will be a big thing to ask of teachers this upcoming year.

Nicholas and the board talked about what amount of COVID-19 cases would constitute the school’s shifting from phase one, which is total reopening, to phases two or three, which is set to be in cooperation with Washakie County Public Health whether or not they should close schools again like they did in March.

The school board also discussed different situations involving sports as well, with Nicholas stating he plans to seek a variance to allow more than 250 people to attend football games.

The board approved the re-entry plan as presented at the special board meeting.

WCSD No. 1 will be holding a town hall meeting tonight (Thursday) from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the WMS auditorium.

All school districts were required to submit a reopening plan to the Wyoming Department of Education on Monday, Aug. 3, and the plans must be approved prior to districts reopening schools.

A full comprehensive look into both WCSD No. 1 and WCSD No. 2 reopening plans will be in next week’s edition of the Northern Wyoming News.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other business at the July 30 meeting:

•The board approved a shared contract with Washakie County School District No. 2 to share District 2 music teacher Mike Adams in the afternoon at Worland Middle School and Worland High School.

•The board approved Jennifer Jones for a Worland Middle School special education position that became vacant after a late resignation.

 
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