Firelands weighs mask requirement in fall, looks at changes to the school year

SOUTH AMHERST — In-person or online schooling? Firelands parents will have to make a choice for the fall semester. The district decided to give the two options to parents after a presentation to the Board of Education on Monday evening. Parents will have to commit to one option or the other just for the semester before the start of the school year. Superintendent Mike Von Gunten asked for a commitment from parents to better prepare for staffing classes. Von Gunten also recommended mandatory face masks for third grade and up, although no decisions were made to formalize that mandate. Each school district in Ohio is required to create a policy on masks. Although teachers and staff are required by the state to wear them, Gov. Mike DeWine only recommended it for students third grade and up. "The mask is really an essential, in my opinion, device to keep our buildings open," Von Gunten said. "We will social distance, but the fact of the matter is at this point in time, based on my understanding, there is probably no better tool we have right now to protect the health of our staff and students. With social distancing, with hand-washing, with cleaning, it is a complete puzzle, but the mask becomes a really important piece." Valid medical reasons would be exempt, but school board members questioned what type of liability that might create for the district. They also asked what training would look like for how to wear a mask properly and not touch it throughout the day. Von Gunten said there would be a lot of work done to mandate masks, including how the rule would be enforced, what would happen if children got on the bus without a mask and if medical conditions should require a doctor's note. Those questions will be worked through before the board takes action on a policy. Von Gunten also asked the school board to consider extending the start of the school year to Sept. 8. No decision was officially made Monday, but Von Gunten said district officials would like a little more time to put together plans and logistics for the fall. An extended end date of the school year would not be required. Von Gunten stressed that plans can change in a minute as there's always new information coming out about the pandemic and best practices. For online, core classes will be offered, but it's possible that not every elective will be. Von Gunten said it depends on who all signs up for online and what classes those students need. At the end of May, 35 percent of parents who responded to a district survey said they would prefer an online option. Von Gunten said that as COVID-19 numbers go up, it's likely the number of parents who want an online option also will go up. Expectations for online will look different than what it was when Firelands scrambled to push online after schools were closed in March. Von Gunten said students should be mostly available during the school day to their teacher. Firelands also will offer training for parents and students to get adapted to the online programming the district uses, mostly through Google Classroom. The district will provide technology to students who need it. If the district doesn't offer an online option, Von Gunten said the concern is that parents will go to a charter school instead. It's also important that the district's teachers are the ones teaching the online classes, Von Gunten said. Firelands is also trying to figure out how attendance will be measured online. It's likely that it will be taken through PowerSchool and if a student doesn't log on to a class, the parent would get an attendance call. In-person schooling is an entirely different beast. The district must take physical health, sanitation and social distancing into account. Part of sanitation is making sure every desk gets clean after a student leaves it. Von Gunten said the district is going to try to limit how often a student has to travel from classroom to classroom. It's likely that elementary and middle school will stay mostly in the same room all day. Teachers would likely be the ones moving between classrooms. But that becomes impossible at the high school, Von Gunten said. The district is looking at class times at the high school and how they can be adjusted. Elementary students probably will eat in their classrooms, but for middle school and high school, the district will utilize both the cafeterias and the gyms. Lockers probably will be almost completely eliminated for all grade levels, although there may be some accommodation at the high school level. Von Gunten said it's almost impossible to social distance at the lockers. Staff will try to reduce items in classrooms to make way for physical distance and storage for backpacks. Transportation is a difficult topic, which Von Gunten said the district is working through multiple solutions to, including multiple bus routes. The district is looking at two students per seat per bus, which maxes out each bus at 48 seats. Board President Mike O'Keefe said that by the time school rolls around, things could change. The district probably will put out communication next week regarding what fall will look like, but it's always open to change. "There's no question this will be the most difficult year," Von Gunten said. "Even on the best day, it will be really frustrating.'' Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.