“We’re looking for a better tomorrow.”
Those were the words of USD 253 Superintendent Kevin Case during a special board of education work session Wednesday evening regarding the district’s reopening plan for the upcoming academic year. The meeting followed a 5-5 vote by the Kansas State Department of Education on Governor Laura Kelly’s executive order that would have kept schools closed until after the Labor Day Holiday weekend.
Case called the vote an example of “where we’re at right now.” Case says a major issue in the district’s planning process has been the constant changes handed down from the state level.
When you factor in the number of other endeavors currently underway for the district, Case says there are just a lot of moving pieces that have to be navigated at this time.
During the meeting, board member Art Gutierrez proposed holding further conversations and potentially rendering a decision on following through with Governor Kelly’s recent executive order on delaying the opening of school.
If the district were not to postpone the opening of schools, the school year would begin in three weeks, limiting the amount of time the district would have to fully develop a mitigation plan for the year.
Discussions Wednesday also focused on current education delivery options including in-person education, online learning or a hybrid model of the two. Case says at this time, no matter how the district chooses to move forward there will likely be a hybrid model of some kind introduced this upcoming school year.
Case says this is due to over 100 local students sharing their desire to see “something different” in terms of education delivery this year. Many questions still remain unanswered at this time, including what happens with student contact date requirements and the district’s 2021 academic calendar.
Discussions are expected to continue over the next week with more information to be presented to the Board of Education during its regular meeting next Wednesday at 7 pm.
