Sarah Komar
Special to the Citizen
Amid surging COVID-19 cases, virus-related schedule changes and uncertainty around the fall semester, Platte County school districts are facing lower-than-usual summer school enrollment numbers.
Platte County R-3 School District, West Platte School District and North Platte School District have seen decreased student enrollment from 2019 for their in-person summer school sessions this month. The districts have not offered in-person instruction since they switched to remote learning in March.
Platte County has 570 elementary and middle school students enrolled for in-person K-8 education this summer, said Laura Hulett, the district’s director of communications. In 2019, 672 students participated.
West Platte superintendent John Rinehart said in an email that enrollment for summer K-8 and driver’s education courses fell from nearly 200 in 2019 to 80 in 2020. In North Platte, an average of 150 K-8 students are enrolled each summer, but this year the number is closer to 115, said superintendent Karl Matt.
Students and staff participating in the North Platte program, which runs July 6-31, are subject to adjusted practices and increased precautions, Matt said. The district mandates assigned, single seating on buses and in classrooms, and students are separated by grade in the lunchroom. Parents are not permitted inside the building.
In accordance with recommendations from the Platte County Health Department (PCHD), Matt also directed teachers to wear face coverings starting July 13, he said. Matt said he is working closely with the PCHD and will make policy changes, as necessary.
“I’m not an expert on epidemiology, so I need to rely on the people who are,” Matt said.
Platte County officials have undertaken similar precautions for summer school, Hulett said. Class size for the July 6-31 term is limited to 20 students, who have been required to sit at least six feet apart or wear masks when social distancing is not possible.
In West Platte, where the summer term is running July 13-31, students have been instructed to socially distance, and periodic temperature checks are required, Rinehart said.
Face masks were not initially mandated for all participants in local summer school programs. However, a countywide PCHD directive issued June 8 requires masks to be worn in public places by those nine and older, effective July 16.
As they attempt to keep summer school students healthy and COVID-19 contained, district officials are also working to develop fall reopening plans amid ever-changing virus conditions.
Matt sees summer school as a dry run for the fall semester, which he said could feature a combination of social distancing procedures and different learning methods, depending on the condition of the pandemic and potential outbreaks in the district.
“It’s been a long time since we had in-person classes, so that’s part of it,” Matt said. “But it’s also to test out different things. How can we social distance? How can we try to keep kids spread out the best that we can and still give them a better education?”
Matt, who has been working with the PCHD and a task force of parents and district officials, said he hopes to deliver a plan for the Board of Education to vote on in the next few weeks. In preparation for a potential return to remote classes, the district has purchased 120 new student laptops.
Similarly, Rinehart said by Aug. 1 he aims to share a plan for reopening that will allow for adaptation to changing conditions and accommodation of parental choice.
“This will be an ever-evolving document,” Rinehart said. We may have kids at home due to illness or suspicion of illness, we may have parents opt for a 100% virtual environment, we may have stretches we are shut down in a physical sense.”
Platte County officials are slated to announce a reopening plan, featuring multiple contingencies, this month. The adaptable plan will be based on input from parents, PCHD officials, and the district’s Recovery and Reopening Task Force, Hulett said.
“If anything, Hulett said, “this has taught us how to be flexible.”