In a normal year, local students and parents would know what to expect when they return to their schools by now, less than two months before they'd open.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has ensured this isn't a normal year, and the uncertainty the coronavirus launched in March appears set to continue as Kewaunee County schools prepare for the coming scholastic year.
The Kewaunee and Algoma school districts have informed families within the past week of how they hope to educate students when the 2020-21 school year begins the week before Labor Day (both communications also are available on the schools' websites). Those preliminary plans include whether classes will be held in the schools themselves or online, the fate of fall athletics and extracurricular activities, and health precautions for students and staff.
But Kewaunee Superintendent Karen Treml and Algoma Superintendent Nick Cochart each emphasized those plans could change, depending on public health conditions over the next few weeks and other issues, local or statewide, related to the pandemic.
"I can't stress enough that it could change," Treml said.
"We know that this plan (for Algoma) will change and that we have some very difficult decisions ahead of us," Cochart said. "We are still very early in the process."
As of Tuesday, the Kewaunee plan calls for in-school instruction five days a week with procedures to maintain health, including enhanced cleaning efforts, social distancing among students and adjustments to how students enter and exit buildings and move between classrooms.
Treml said if the school can offer a safe environment in its buildings, she believes it'll be better, mentally and emotionally, for students to get back into spending their days with their peers.
"Mental health, that's critical to get kids back to school," Treml said. "They miss each other and we have missed them."
Kewaunee also is looking at options for virtual or blended instruction (a mix of in-school and online lessons) for students with health concerns or who won't feel comfortable attending in person.
Algoma put forward a framework for a plan with two options for students: a "One-Room Schoolhouse Model" that largely would keep them in the same room for in-school classes; and virtual learning. Hybrid options may be made available depending on circumstances. Cochart said the district soon will send out another communication to families to provide more details, bearing in mind those could change between now and the planned start of the year on Aug. 31.
Luxemburg-Casco Superintendent Glenn Schlender presented a plan to the L-C School Board for consideration Wednesday night, after the Star-News deadline.
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Treml said superintendents in Kewaunee County and surrounding areas have engaged in discussions on how to reopen, bouncing ideas off each other and asking questions. The state's Department of Public Instruction offered a guidance document June 22, titled "Education Forward," but as of now it's up to each district to design and implement its own plan.
"We're all trying to figure out how we're going to handle lunch hours, how we're going to handle the beginning of the day, the end of the day, social distancing," Treml said about the county's school leaders.
"There was guidance from the state, but it was just that — guidance. We're sharing ideas, seeing what other districts are doing. It's a huge challenge when every district is trying to do this on their own. ... Districts all over the area are going through the same thing together. We've seen a lot of collaboration with districts helping each other. So there are positives out of this."
The districts also consulted with the county Public Health Department and received feedback from families.
A survey of parents conducted by the Kewaunee district found that 80% were at least "OK," in Treml's words, with having their children return to school full-time, although with some concern. The other 20% asked about virtual classes or a blend of some in-school, some online learning, she said.
The schools also are considering lessons learned in the spring, when the early stages of the pandemic saw the state order all schools to close in mid-March, suddenly forcing them to provide virtual instruction for the remaining 2½ months of the school year.
Algoma's "One-Room Schoolhouse" framework is designed to keep students who are in the building in consistent groups to minimize risk. For example, there would be less chance of contact between different groups between classes, especially for the older students who usually move from classroom to classroom.
Meals would be served in the students' room, and elementary students would have recess in their learning pods, as well, although outdoor learning would be encouraged. Middle- and high-schoolers would have core classes in their assigned room in the morning, then take electives in the afternoon. Online learning will become part of all teaching, which Cochart said would ease the transition to virtual-only classes if the schools need to close again.
The plan for those taking only virtual classes would assign a teacher to those students as a point of contact and set up weekly check-ins with teachers.
"Regardless of what we do, there will be risk," Cochart said. "Therefore this model allows us to focus on each grade level as a ‘room,’ so to speak. Teachers will rotate in order to provide content-specific instruction that matches (their) licensure."
Treml also noted for elementary school classes, it's easier to keep children contained "in a bubble" because they generally don't move from classroom to classroom during the day, as older students do.
It's also not yet certain what will happen with extracurricular activities. The high school sports schedule, if it takes place at all this fall, will be determined by guidance from the Packerland Conference and WIAA. Kewaunee's fall extracurriculars are on hold and the fall school musical is likely to move to spring, Treml said, hoping it can be held then.
"Certainly, some of our biggest and lengthiest discussions have been about athletics," she said. "We know it's important for students to have some sort of normalcy in their lives, but we have to keep them safe."
The school district also has to take into account the safety of staff and what to do if employees are struck by the virus, especially considering the potential difficulty finding substitute teachers and health issues that could arise from bringing a sub into the school. There also are potential issues with students all arriving and leaving the schools at the start and end of the day, as well as figuring out how to make school bus rides as safe as possible. Kewaunee and Algoma haven't decided if wearing masks will be required.
"What we do know is we have some vulnerable staff," Treml said. "We have 130. ... If we lose 10%, how do we continue?"
It's too early to tell how much more the safety measures and education plans might cost the Kewaunee district, she said. There will be more money spent for cleaning supplies and sanitizers, along with extra staff to help, and the district ordered another 400 Google Chromebook laptops for students taking online courses.
There's also concern about recent threats from the federal government to withhold funds it normally provides if schools don't open for full-time, in-school classes. Most school revenues come from local and state taxes, so federal money isn't a large part of local schools' budgets — Treml said Kewaunee receives about $600,000, or 3.75% of its revenues — but those dollars go toward special education, Title I programming (for students in need) and food service.
"We would hope the federal government would not do that," Treml said. "Why would you take from schools at a time like this, where costs are increasing?"
And again, these plans are likely to be modified and could change drastically before the proposed start of the year, especially given the surging number of positive COVID-19 tests in Kewaunee County. Of the county's 85 cases since the pandemic hit locally, 27 were reported within the past two weeks, including 17 in the past six days.
Treml said now is a chance for the public to consider how it acts and the health precautions it takes over the next six weeks.
"If we have to go (entirely) virtual, it could be because of an outbreak among students, among staff, or in the community," she said. "So much depends on what happens within the community. It's an opportunity for the community to get together and think, 'The things I'm doing, will that support reopening the schools?'"
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-741-7952, 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Kewaunee, Algoma schools make plans to reopen. But they know those plans could change.