‘Moving target’: Schools deal with new plans, Trump demands
TOLEDO, OHIO » With little more than a month before millions of U.S. schoolchildren go back to class, much is still up in the air — and not just because of the surging number of coronavirus cases nationwide.
Last week, President Donald Trump and his administration demanded schools fully reopen right away, calling for new guidance from federal health officials and slamming schools that want to bring students back for only a few days a week.
At the same time, some states are just now issuing their own directives, and school district leaders say they expect those guidelines to be revised again before the classroom bells ring.
While there’s no indication school administrators are changing their plans yet because of the latest word from the White House, they are working on multiple reopening scenarios. Those cover everything from where students will eat lunch to navigating online learning.
Here is a look at what several school districts are planning and discussing.
Control, Bond said.
“It hasn’t caused us to do anything right now,” he said.
Schools will adjust to allow for social distancing depending on the number of students who opt to attend. Among the considerations: Plexiglas separators for multi-student desks, separating individual desks and even using gyms, cafeterias and auditoriums as spaces distancing students.
“This is a dance we’re learning as we go,” Bond said. said spokesman Chris Williams.
There will be no salad bars at lunch and students will no longer be able to spoon out their own food servings in the cafeteria. Lunches will be “grab-and-go,” eaten during multiple periods so fewer students are mingling in the cafeteria.
The district, he said, hasn’t altered its plans because of the Trump administration’s recent statements, but it now will require masks after Utah Gov. Gary Herbert announced a mandate.