SARAH KOMAR
Special to the Citizen
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on across Missouri, Platte County’s four school districts are preparing to offer online, in-person and hybrid learning options, and will begin the school year later than anticipated.
Following guidance from the Platte County Health Department last week, officials of the Park Hill School District, Platte County School District, West Platte School District and North Platte School District announced that the first day of school would be moved to Sept. 8. Originally, schools were set to reopen the week of Aug. 24.
The guidance comes after the health department reported a rapid, sharp increase in daily confirmed COVID-19 cases throughout July, which has continued into the first week of August.
In light of fears about transmission of the virus at schools, all four districts have included multiple learning options in their fall reopening plans, which officials released over the course of the past two weeks.
Each district will provide an online-only option, facilitated by district-issued laptops or tablets and online education platforms such as Launch and Infinite Campus, into which parents must choose to opt their children. Online learners will stay remote for the entire semester.
So far, 25% of Park Hill students have registered for online-only learning, according to the district website. By Friday, 74% of Platte County students had responded with their fall choices, with 17% choosing online learning, said Platte County R-3 director of communications Laura Hulett.
Students not signed up for online learning by their district’s deadline will be enrolled for face-to-face learning for the fall semester. West Platte, Park Hill and Platte County are each prepared to administer either a 100% in-person or hybrid in-person/remote learning model to face-to-face students based upon guidance from health officials, according to their reopening plans.
Under the PCSD hybrid model, 6th-12th grade students will be split into two groups by last name and the groups will alternate between in-person and remote learning on opposing days. All students in kindergarten through fifth grade will take in-person classes each day. Platte County students will start the school year in September using this model, Hulett said Monday.
Park Hill’s updated plan includes a hybrid model with a similar structure, which will also be implemented the first week of the school year, according to the district website.
Other precautions listed in the four districts’ reopening plans include face covering requirements in compliance with the Health Department mandate, social distancing measures, daily disinfecting procedures, elimination of self-serve food lines, and restrictions on visitors.
To prevent disease spread in high-traffic and confined areas, schools may implement combinations of cafeteria and classroom dining during lunch periods and prohibit or stagger the use of locker rooms, water fountains and electives/specials classrooms.
Should students or teachers be diagnosed with COVID-19, they will be required to stay home for at least 10 days after the first appearance of symptoms, or until they receive two negative tests completed 24 hours apart. Exposure to COVID-positive people may also result in 14-day at-home quarantines for individuals, classes, or whole schools.
The deadline to register students for online learning is Wednesday for North Platte and Aug. 12 for West Platte. The original registration deadlines for Park Hill and Platte County, which passed last week, have been extended to Thursday and Monday, respectively.