The start of the school year for USD 421 Lyndon is “going great” according to Superintendent Brad Marcotte.
Marcotte joined KVOE’s Newsmaker 3 segment Tuesday morning to discuss the start of the school year which began nearly a week ago. USD 421, like many other districts, offered their students and families a choice of in-person or virtual attendance, however, they decided against pursuing a hybrid education model.
Marcotte says the district also added a bus route in one if its more highly populated areas to help reduce the risk of crowded buses. Additionally, the district allowed teachers to forgo their “duty-free lunch” to keep an eye on students inside of their classrooms during the lunch period to cut down on traffic inside cafeterias.
A major talking point throughout districts across the state at this time is whether or not to go ahead with fall sports. Marcotte says USD 421 will be moving ahead as scheduled at this time.
He says families who attend will be asked to mask up and social distance to reduce the risk of potential community spread of coronavirus.
Mask use is mandatory inside school buildings for both staff and students and Marcotte says so far there have been no issues as everyone has “bought-in” to the policy. The district also utilized federal COVID funding to purchase and install thermal cameras inside school entrances.
The cameras allow the administration to see if an individual may be running a temperature upon entering the building. If an individual is running a high temp, they are brought in for an additional temperature check after a 15-minute wait and are sent home if the temperature persists.
KVOE will continue discussions with area superintendents over the next three weeks as districts continue starting up the 2020 school year.
