USD 417 Morris County has officially set its 2020-21 academic calendar.
The Board of Education officially approved the calendar during a special meeting Friday evening. USD 417 Superintendent Aaron Dody says they have chosen to delay the start of school, however, the delay will not be quite as long as Governor Laura Kelly’s executive order had intended.
The school year will begin for USD 417 on Sept. 1, according to Dody. He says the school year will see a mix of both in-person and remote learning.
Dody says given the current health rise in COVID-19 cases in the KVOE listening area, the district felt it was important to provide parents and students with a choice.
With Governor Kelly’s executive order which failed to pass the Kansas State Board of Education last week another order was issued requiring the use of masks inside of Kansas school buildings. While this order was not subject to state board approval, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt did state that schools have the option to opt-out of the order if they so choose.
Dody says the district will not be opting out and will require the use of masks inside schools, however, they will have built-in time within each school day to limit the amount of time students have to wear a mask.
Dody and other area Superintendents will be joining KVOE’s morning show throughout the week to update current plans for the upcoming school year. Our first update will feature USD 252 Superintendent Mike Argabright in the 8:20 Newsmaker 2 slot Monday.
USD 251 North Lyon County Superintendent Bob Blair will join the 8:20 Newsmaker slot on Tuesday, Dod has the 8:20 slot on Wednesday and USD 243 Lebo Waverly Superintendent Cory Reece has the 8:20 slot on Thursday.
