The South Panola School District Board of Trustees adopted a Return to School plan for the 2020-21 school year in a teleconference board meeting Thursday.

Superintendent Tim Wilder spent much of the hour long meeting going over various scenarios with board members concerning the return to classroom instruction, and the process the families who choose to use the distance learning option will be required to follow.

Most important from the meeting was the district’s plans to deal with positive cases of coronavirus on the various campuses. Positive cases of teachers or students will not necessarily mean a suspension of that classroom’s learning model, or a quarantine of employees or students.

Following the state’s recommendations, quarantine will only be used for staff and students who are in close contact – less than six feet distance – with someone positive for more than 15 minutes. Wilder said that teachers can instruct from the front of a classroom and with social distancing measures never be within the six foot space of students for a 15 minute period.

If there are three or more cases of coronavirus in a class within 14 days of the first case, then that classroom would be shut down and those students sent home to quarantine. Wilder said he and other administrators are aware that different situations may arise during the first few days and weeks of the school year that may require some changes to the current plan.

 

Read the school district’s full Return to School Policy here.

Read a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the policy here.