Mountain Pine schools plan to start Aug. 24

MOUNTAIN PINE — Mountain Pine School District plans to start school on Aug. 24 unless it gets pushed back at the state level.

“We are following whatever the governor’s task force is recommending (and) following whatever the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for safety guidelines and protocols for students with the ordering of additional personal protective equipment for staff and students, additional staff members to help keep buildings clean and sanitary,

more so than they already are. We’re relying on guidance from the governor,” Denise Taylor, curriculum director, said.

She said that the district plans to come back on campus full time with students. They are aware that some of the parents are not very comfortable with their children returning to school with the increase of

COVID-19 cases in the state. Taylor said that the school calendar was changed to reflect that the first day of school would be Aug. 24 and not Aug.

13, at the direction of Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The district also pushed back and moved some professional development days.

“We did have to do some reorganization to make sure that we meet the state guidelines of

178 school days. So, I wouldn’t say it was stressful but hectic,” she said.

“We were remaining flexible, like all the other school districts around us,” Taylor said, and the district is “working hard to meet the demands of our students and our families.”

She said that the district had to write a plan to submit to the Arkansas Department of Education, telling it how the district was going to keep staff and students safe while on campus.

Taylor said that staff members would have their temperature taken every day through thermal cameras.

MPSD’s buildings have been painted, sanitized and cleaned since March. The district has deep cleaned every corner of the buildings, she said.

“Our athletic facilities have been deep cleaned. Our buses have been deep cleaned. We have protocols in place for sanitizing surfaces. We have protocols in place for staff at this point for as far as mask-wearing goes,” Taylor said.

“They ordered protective equipment for staff members to include masks and face shields. We’re putting up Plexiglas in major offices so that school secretaries can conduct business” without direct contact, she said.

Taylor said that the district wants the students and community to know that they miss the students.

“We ended school very abruptly, and there was no closure at the end of last year. So, we miss seeing the kids and interacting with our families,” she said.

“We are ready to welcome them back and follow every single safety protocol there is in order to ensure that they’re safe and well taken care of on our campus while they’re here,” Taylor said.

She said that the school has offered blended learning, which means teachers will teach lessons in videos and have Zoom meetings with students.

“Students can work from home with their parents supervising them. They will have the opportunity if they need extra assistance, to make an appointment to come onto campus and meet with their classroom teacher if they need additional help, that they couldn’t get from the video or the zoom meeting with the teacher,” Taylor said.