Districts weigh school starts following state announcement
The state’s decision last week to push back the start of the 2020-21 school year to the week of Aug. 24 is forcing some school districts to retool plans they already had put into place.
“While we don’t wish to delay students returning to campus in August, we understand the purpose. With our recent calendar revision, (Lake Hamilton School District) had already taken the proactive steps to allow for more teacher preparation,” LHSD Superintendent Shawn Higginbotham said.
The state said the almost two-week delay is intended to give districts time to make allowances for the coronavirus pandemic.
The district did not expect the Arkansas Department of Education to take the unprecedented actions of revoking the early start waiver, or the district would have postponed their decision to delay the start of school, Higginbotham said.
Districts can start as late as Aug. 26 under the plan the state announced Thursday. The Lake Hamilton School Board had already voted earlier that week to shift the start of school to Aug. 18.
“It is important that our families understand that the calendar change that is now necessary is the result of a state authority decision, not a local one,” Higginbotham said, noting, “We continue to prepare to welcome our students back and provide the safest and most productive experience possible.”
Brian Bridges, LHSD’s communications and public relations
coordinator, said the district is working on updating the school calendar to be in line with the new start date directive issued by the governor.
“Our hope is to be able to have this new calendar approved at the board meeting on July 20,” he said.
Adriane Barnes, the Hot Springs School District’s communications and public relations coordinator, said the district had sent three different new calendar options to meet the new start-date requirements for the 2020-21 school year.
“The calendar that receives the most votes from our staff will be presented at the school board meeting on Tuesday, July 21, and will immediately go into effect,” she said.
“We look forward to adapting this new change into our calendar and using the time for (hopeful) additional teacher preparation and training for the school year,” Barnes said.
Bridges said LHSD will still offer blended on-site and virtual learning options this fall. Parents and community members are being asked to visit the “Lake Hamilton is Here” area of its website, http://www.lhwolves.net, to receive updates and information regarding the 2020-21 school year.
The Trojans Ready for Learning plan will be published later this month with specific protocols and guidelines for each of the schools, Barnes said, noting the goal for the plan is to provide a safe and robust educational experience with social interaction and extracurricular activities while adhering to guidelines provided by the Arkansas Department of Health.
“The HSSD has developed three Learning Options for families for the fall. Those have not changed.” Learning options are traditional in-classroom learning, blended in-classroom and virtual learning and virtual learning, Barnes said.
HSSD is certain the year ahead will have many challenges, and they are committed to being adaptable and flexible as the district meets each one head-on, HSSD Superintendent Stephanie Nehus said.
“We are working with our staff members to select a new school year calendar that best suits the needs of our district, and we will publish that for our students and families as soon as possible,” she said.
“We look forward to adding valuable teacher preparation and training time before students return to classrooms, and most importantly — to welcoming our students back in August as safely as possible,” Nehus said.
“The HSSD will continue to provide free meal access, as well as free technology devices and Wi-Fi for families who did not have prior access, for all that choose a blended and/or virtual option,” Barnes said.