Duneland prepares for hybrid schedule

Students in the Duneland School Corp. can attend inschool classes four days a week beginning Oct. 5.

The hybrid model brings students back to school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with Wednesdays reserved for e-learning classes. Deep cleaning of schools and classrooms will be done on Wednesdays.

The Duneland School Board affirmed the change Monday. Since Sept. 1, officials reported three students have tested positive for COVID-19. On Thursday, the district reported a staff member at Yost Elementary tested positive and a staff member at Liberty Intermediate School tested positive Tuesday.

Parents can still opt to keep their children home for elearning because of COVID-19 concerns. Parents need to complete a form by Wednesday informing the district if they want their children to attend in-person or virtually. Daily school opening and closing plans will remain the same.

Superintendent Chip Pettit told parents in a letter that the district observed other schools at the state and local levels to see how they handled in-person school.

“To date, we have not seen entire school districts shut down and only a handful of schools have closed for up to two weeks at a time. This is significant as one of our major concerns five weeks ago was whether we would be able to stay open due to contact tracing expectations,” Pettit said.

Students and staff have responded well to mask mandates and social distancing, he said.

When positive results are found, contact tracing is done and people who were in direct contact with the student or staff member are notified.

Students and employees who test positive must remain home for at least 10 days and be fever-free for 24 hours and other symptoms must have improved.

“Our teachers have put their best foot forward to deliver instruction in two different formats, remote and in-person,” Pettit said. He added the school day was shortened by 35 minutes to allow for more teacher preparation time.