This interview with Hays USD 489 Superintendent Ron Wilson first aired on KAYS radio on Friday, Aug. 21.
Compiled by Cristina Janney / Hays Post
Masks
Will teachers/students be allowed to take masks off when they are more than 6 feet away from each other in their classrooms?
We are telling all teachers when they are in the classroom with students and even with other people, we are requiring face masks be a part of themselves. What we understood about this is that a face mask is just one layer of defense against the virus. Again, hand washing will be our No. 1 defense. Social distancing would be another layer of defense, and then the face mask would also be considered. To keep our three layers of defense going, we are going to require face masks be worn at all times.
Are there are going to be situations where the mask is dropped because they may need to enunciate something or some times you just need to take a deep breath without the mask on? Yes. However, for the most part, yes, everyone is going to be expected to keep their mask on at all times.
Will teachers plan to have "masks breaks?" How can these be safely done?
Masks are a layer of defense, but they can also feel inconvenient and you feel you need some time away from this thing. We have talked to building administrators about working with their staff to allow those moments.
What we are encouraging is all of those mask break times will happen in an outdoor setting. They might take their kids outside for 10 minutes during an actual class and maybe do an activity without their mask on, separated by at least 6 feet or more. They would not be congregated together at that time.
I have also talked to the elementary principals about recess and giving the kids the opportunity to take breaks from their masks during recess as long as they are not congregating. If they are moving and being active, we've been told by the medical professionals it would be completely OK to play without a mask during that time.
Will there be consequences for students who do not follow the school's/district's mask rules?
We want everyone to wear masks, and we expect everyone to wear masks. We hope when students are asked to put their masks back on, they'll follow those directions. It would be no different than any other kind of not following instructions during the school day. We will try to come to happy results on most situations, and hopefully, we don't have to get to that situation.
Will the face mask requirement in schools end if the city doesn’t extend the face mask mandate ?
We're operating under the governor's executive order. That basically says face masks will be worn schools. That will expire sometime in September. Whether that gets extended or not, we don't know. We will follow what the governor has for us as a school district.
Contact tracing
How will contact tracing be completed in the schools?
It is going to be a little more difficult in schools to contact trace because we do have a lot of students and a lot of movement through various points of the day. We are going to make our best effort to keep consistent groups as much as possible. As we have older students, it is a little bit more difficult because they do move a lot more than maybe our younger students.
Should we get a positive case, we'll be notified from our local health officials. At that point, we will probably help them determine where that student has been and those contacts of who has been within six feet over a 10 minute period. Regardless of mask or not, they will be notified by the local health department if they should need to quarantine.
Who makes the decision if the school district is to shift to a more restrictive phase?
Our plan right now is to start Aug. 26 on site. Our plan is to look at the information on a weekly basis as to what is happening in our community that will help us make decisions.
We have a group of medical professionals who are involved in that decision, as well as administration here at the district who will meet on a weekly basis and look at the metrics of our community. These include our student absentee rate, staff absentee rate and percent of positive cases that are happening in our community. There are lots of different metrics that we will be looking at and using those numbers to help us make those decisions to keep everyone safe and healthy.
If there is a change to a more restrictive phase, how will families be notified?
How they would be notified is the same way we we notify on a snow day if we are not having school. We will send everything out on our messenger system. We will have emails that go out as well as text messages as well as even phone calls.
Most likely those decisions will be made midweek for the following weeks. Our plan is to meet every Tuesday, to look at the metrics going on and make a determination for the following week. I would imagine most people will have at least four to five days to make any arrangements should we need to switch to a different phase.
Positive cases
What will happen if someone in a classroom tests positive? Will the whole class have to be quarantined?
Once again, it goes back to that definition. It is having been within 6 feet for more than 10 minutes. If you have been in a classroom and you have not been close to that student for more than 10 minutes and less than six feet, you probably won't be asked to quarantine.
Will positive cases be announced? How does HIPAA come into play?
We will have a duty to let everyone know we did have a positive case. We will notify through our messenger system we have had a positive case in the school.
As far as identifying individuals, that won't happen. That falls under the HIPAA policy of privacy. We want to protect everyone's medical and health history and safety. We will do the best we can to let people know we have had a situation and this is how we're handling it.
Who should parents contact at the school district if they have specific questions about a COVID-19?
We've been able to add an additional position within our district with the understanding that this is year is going to be a unique year with lots of health-related questions and situations. Jessica Roe, who has been our lead nurse here in our school district for the last several years and has been repositioned into a lead district nurse, where she will be our COVID contact. Her office is at Hays High, but she will be servicing all of our schools in district in terms of working through all of the new health situations that we are going to encounter this year. The phone number for HHS is 785-623-2600. Her email address will also be posted on the district website.
Hybrid learning
What progress has the district made on its hybrid learning model?
Should we be forced to go remote, we would be looking at targeted groups who are willing to come in in a very isolated situation and work with staff.
We are continually looking at other ways we could include more students, but still keeping smaller numbers in our schools for a few days at a time. We still haven't quite refined that.
Parent choice remote learning
What curriculum/instruction model will be utilized at the various grade levels for remote learning?
It is going to look different at each grade level. At the elementary level, we are going to be using Edgenuity software. The board just approved a $100,000 purchase just for elementary software. This will provide students with the opportunity to have pretty rigorous core curriculum on an online software platform. They will have some contact with a teacher. There are certain teachers at various grade levels who will be asked to oversee those students in the classroom. They will also have the opportunity to answer questions, ask questions and it will go back and forth.
At the middle school level, we will not be utilizing Edgenuity. Students will be Zooming in to the classes. They will have opportunities to ask questions during the class time. They will also have someone monitoring the system in case they have specific questions during that time or they will email them and the teachers will get back to them.
At the high school level, it is very similar. Students will be Zooming into the classes, but on the elective side, they will be utilizing Edgenuity for the elective classes.
What can a parent expect to see from the student/teacher perspective with remote learning?
I think what they should expect is, although they are receiving online instruction, they are still our students. We still want to have contact. We still want to develop a relationship with them. We want them to understand that we value them as a student, and we really want to create a valuable learning opportunity for them, even though it is not on site.
The expectation is that the teachers will make contact. It could be through Zoom. Contact could be through a phone call. We really need to stay in touch with the students.
How will a parent know if their child is having success with the remote model?
Students will receive progress reports and grades. The person who is overseeing that student for their online learning will be expected to monitor and stay on top of what the student is achieving. Should they need to contact parents that will come from that teacher. They will get grades just like the other students who are on site. From that standpoint, it should not look a lot different from what they are used to.
What kind of accountability will be required of the student and family in a remote environment?
It takes a relationship being developed between the teacher and the student and the parent. We have to have good communication between all three, so everyone is understanding what we are expecting and what is actually happening.
The new normal
What can students expect on the first day of school? How will the routine be different?
I think for that first day, there is going to be a lot of excitement. It has been five months since we have been back in school. I think there is going to be a lot of excitement about being back in school and seeing some friends they haven't seen.
The first day they will see masks worn by everybody. When we ask students to gather we will be asking them and requiring them to be socially distanced. Classrooms will be set up a little differently than they remember before they were sent home for the remainder of the year last spring.
Lunch time will look quite a bit different because we are really going to try to space kids out. We will have more tables.
It is still school. We still want kids to learn and make it a great opportunity for them to learn. We have a staff who has been working hard to plan for this year and understand that things will be a little different.
Is the district still planning on doing temperature checks as kids come to school in the morning?
Yes. The expectation will be that children arrive at school, come into the building and at the appropriate time will be moved into the classroom. The expectation is every first-hour teacher who has that student at the beginning of the day will take their temperature.
Should anyone have a temperature that exceeds 100.4 degrees, they will be sent down to the nurse. That temperature will be retaken and the determination of what should happen with that student at that time will be made by a school nurse.
Will visitors be allowed in schools this year?
No. That is always a disappointing thing. We are trying to limit as much as we can the traffic in and out of the building. That is for safety. We regret that decision, but we understand it is for the safety and health of everybody.
A lot of those opportunities for parents to come in and eat lunch to do birthday parties in the classroom or those types of things will really be limited. They will be told that won't happen this year until we get an all clear that is safe to return to a little bit of normal.
Sports practices started on Monday, how has that been going so far?
From what I am hearing, things are going well. Our Wichita schools we had scheduled for the first week and later in the season for the football team, they are not going to be playing out of conference. We are trying to figure out exactly what that means for us going forward.
For the most part, I have heard things are going well. Kids are participating. It's good to see. It has kind of made us feel school is normal to see the kids out there participating before school.