Schools prepare for start of new year
PENDLETON — South Madison Community School Corp. was gearing up this week for a new school year — with an eye on COVID-19 spread levels — as students were set to return to the classroom today, Thursday, Aug. 5.
“The bottom line to all this is — and we’ve been doing this for a year and a half — we have to be fluid and we have to be willing to change to whatever comes at us. That’s kind of our mindset,” Superintendent Mark Hall said.
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Monday was Freshman Fun Day at Pendleton Heights High School. Incoming students participated in a scavenger hunt, tested their locker combinations and picked up scholastic essentials, such as laptops.
Teacher Organization Day was on Tuesday. Staff came together in the auditorium to hear from the administration and other leaders, and Wednesday was Staff Development Day, one final opportunity to get organized for the arrival of students.
School hours starting Thursday will be 8:30 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. at the district’s three elementary buildings: Maple Ridge, Pendleton and East. At Pendleton Heights middle and high schools, classes run from 7:30 a.m. to 2:25 p.m.
As the 2021-22 school year starts, South Madison schools has its pandemic protocols in place.
All buildings will be operating at Level 2, which calls for a traditional educational format with enhanced safety and social distancing protocols.
Masks and face coverings are still optional in buildings, but Hall added, “If you feel it is the best thing to do for your health, then people should definitely wear face coverings.”
Masks are required for everyone riding school buses, per a federal public transportation mandate.
South Madison’s COVID-19 plan has four levels.
Level 1 (Blue) is low/no spread with a traditional learning format. Level 2 (Yellow) is minimal/moderate spread, also traditional. Level 3 (Orange) is also minimal/moderate spread and traditional but all students and staff will be required to wear a face mask/shield at all times with some exceptions. Level 4 (Red) is substantial spread with a hybrid educational format, which is a combination of in-school learning and eLearning at the secondary level.
Levels will be determined each Thursday using the score provided by Indiana State Department of Health. A change in level will be communicated to the public via email message. The current level of operation will be displayed on the district’s website at www.smcsc.com.
An operational plan for the upcoming school year was approved at the July board of trustees meeting.
At that time, district schools were at Level 1. Hall said the corporation, as it did last year, will heed advice from state and county health departments, which delivers a new community spread score (based on cases per 100,000 residents) each Wednesday.
It was announced last week the county had moved from stage blue to stage yellow.
Hall said they will announce on Thursdays if levels change. If they do, the new level will be in affect the following week.
It’s a system that’s proven to be effective, he said.
“I think last year a lot of people didn’t think we’d stay open very long and we had all our safety procedures in place and we made it through the whole year, with just a few days of eLearning for our secondary students.
“I think we’ve got a lot of good things in place again. We’ll just have to see what comes at us.”
