Barbara Augsdorfer|Savannah Morning News
While the Class of 2021 is looking forward to graduation ceremonies within the next two weeks, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools district officials are forging ahead with plans for next school year.
One wordmissing from the conversation: hybrid. Students are going to be in the classroom five days a week starting on Aug. 4. Virtual will still be an option, but only a limited one.
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Plans have been in the works for the past few months for a full-time five-day-a-week school schedule for all students starting Aug. 4. At the April school board meeting, District Superintendent Ann Levett floated the idea of possibly phasing in the students' return; but at yesterday's school board meeting, she indicated all students will return on Aug. 4.
"All students are returning on Wednesday, Aug. 4," said Levett. "We had internal conversations with staff, and [they]believe that all students reportingon Aug.4 is good." She added the virtual option will be available by request only and with limited availability.
Board President Joe Buck questioned thatvirtual option, wanting Levett to clarify she was not referring to the district's e-learning academy. Levett made it clear that if students want to attend school 100% virtually, they may not have the option of attending their regular school if no teachers were available there to teach virtually. Students who want an all-virtual option may consider applying to the Savannah-Chatham E-Learning Academy if space is available. (SCELA opened last summer for students in grades 3-10 and is adding 11th grade in 2021-22.)
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"We want to be as flexible as possible, but we are not going to be able to meet everyone's needs. I don't want to ever promise that it is going to be everything you want it to be," Levett answered. "We will have to look at what that [student] limit is for [SCELA Principal Benjamin] Lam and his staff. We will do our very best to accommodate requests andalso based on capacity."
Preliminary results of a parent survey were discussed which showedjust over 13,000 of the district's 25,000 families responded. Of those, 81% indicatedthey wanted a full-time five-day-a-week in-person school schedule in 2021-22. Levett said the response rate is not what they expected, but it is a pretty good indicator of what districtparents want.
And she issued this warning to families who have not responded. "It is our intent to make a special effort to those whom we have not heard from yet, that we will also say to them very clearly that if you don't indicate you are preferring virtual and you're planning to come back in the fall, our expectations that [your student] should be in-person." Principals and staff will reach out to their parents in the coming weeks to get those responses.
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Denise Grabowski, District 1 representative, asked Levett about students who may have left the district and who are planning to return. "Do we have a way to capture those individuals that are not currently in the district but they were earlier this year?" Grabowski asked.
"We have to go back and look at the inactive records and see if their information is current and out for us to reach out to them," David Feliciano, the district chief data and accountability officer, answered her. The district updates records of inactive students (students who left the district) as best they can. "Sometimes we hear from another district requesting those student records, and then we update those records within our system. If not, we send out social workers. If it's [students under 16 who must be in school], then we investigate further to find out what happened to those children."
School uniforms back in fashion
The school board briefly discussed the uniform policy and school supply lists. The district relaxed the uniform policy for 2020-21 due to the pandemic, and without a new board resolution, that relaxation will expire with the end of this school year. The school uniform policy is available on the district website at sccpss.com. Parents can findadditional information about uniform policies at the individual schools on the schools' websites or by calling their child's school office.
Levett added that schools are working on their uniform closets (where students out of compliance can borrow a uniform for the day); and that some community organizations arelining up to support uniform drives. The district is working with area YMCAs to provide before- and after-school care.
School supply lists are making a comeback. But since the schools are using CARES Act funds to purchase wipes, hand sanitizer, and other COVID-related cleaning supplies, those items will not be on school supply lists this year. Supply lists by school and grade will be available later in the summer.
As for riding the school bus, Levett added that the district has not received updated guidance regarding social distancing on buses. When that information is available, the district will work with the transportation department. "The school bus drivers have made it very clear that they are also aware and keeping in touch with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines," Levett said.
The summer school program will be a good test run of how things will look in the fall. "Summer is really going to be an opportunity for us to have five days in-person, before- and after-care. It will look a lot like a typical school experience," Levett added.
Barbara Augsdorfer is the education reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Reach her at BAugsdorfer@gannett.com or on Twitter @Babs7983.
