Keeping COVID-19 at bay
While school districts across the nation have been subject to the demands and uncertainties of COVID-19 this academic year, Wellton Elementary School District has managed to avoid some of the novel virus’ unfavorable implications.
According to Superintendent Lisa Jameson, since the one-school district opened for in-person learning Sept. 14, five employees in various departments have tested positive for COVID-19; three of those individuals have been able to return to work.
To Jameson’s knowledge, no students have tested positive for COVID-19, she said.
In addition to wearing face masks at all times on campus, the East County school has implemented a rigorous set of safety protocols that may have contributed to the minimal exposure and spread of the virus around campus.
“We have done every precaution we could think of,” she said. “We have very small class sizes, we are marking our whole school with little markers six feet apart, we have shields for every single desk and we do not have tables in our cafeteria – we have small tables that are really desks, and we have shields in there, too.”
The town of Wellton at large has also had a role in this.
“We have been lucky because we are a small community, and I think the community has worked really hard to follow all the guidelines,” Jameson said. “I won’t say places have shut down, but they’ve been extremely cautious. As a community member, I do appreciate that because it makes it easier for us here at school. We will get through this in our little community. All we can do is continue to work together and communicate.”
According to Jameson, parent feedback is a driving factor in much of her decision-making. In a recent
survey, 70% of Wellton Elementary School families indicated their preference for online instruction, with the remaining 30% preferring in-person instruction. The school is accommodating both groups, Jameson said.
“I do listen to my parents and I know that some of them are essential workers and they do need a place for their children, so we will absolutely do our 100% best to try and stay open and stay as safe as possible,” she said. “We are pretty isolated out here and there’s just no other place for our students to go when they need help, so we really need to be there for them. I do realize their concern about COVID; I have the same concerns. We are really trying to listen to the concerns of parents and to meet as many needs as possible.”
The school is taking a break for Thanksgiving Nov. 23 and returning to school – both in-person and online – Nov. 30.
Though the school calendar initially slated Thanksgiving break to begin Nov. 25, the extra two days affords administration more time to contact parents to determine exactly how many students will be learning on campus and how many will be learning online in order to plan accordingly.
Though the entire year thus far has been unprecedented, Jameson commends the Wellton Bulldog community for its flexibility and adaptation.
“Our parents and our students have been wonderful,” Jameson said. “They’ve been so flexible. This has been a crazy year – I don’t have a better word for it. It just seems like every day brings some new challenges. We do have guidelines, but there are so many different situations that could arise that it’s hard to know exactly what to do. So we have always decided to err on the side of caution to protect our kids and, of course, our staff.”
She added: It’s a little scary to see the (COVID-19) trend in Arizona on the national news. I would encourage people: wear a mask when you go out, care about the person next to you and continue to think of others. We will get through this, I know we will. But we need to continue to think of the people around us.”