COVID-19 has a huge impact on back-to-school preparations.
Superintendents from Elida, Bath, Shwanee, Apollo, Lima and the Allen County Educational Service Center held a roundtable discussion about their back-to-school preparations at Rotary Monday. Planning for the safety of students and faculty has taken a tremendous amount of time and is in a constant state of flux. The pandemic closed the schools in March, and the superintendents say they have been working together through the summer on safety protocols for the reopening. Masks will be required for students, teacher and faculty, and barriers are being erected in classrooms for teachers who are at high-risk. All students will have assigned seating in classrooms, the lunchroom and even on the bus so if one gets sick, officials will know who was sitting near them. Water fountains are closed and students are encouraged to bring water bottles to class. School districts will strongly encourage daily symptom checks for staff, caregivers, and students. All staff and students who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 will stay home and are strongly encouraged to be tested as soon as possible to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Hand sanitizer and wipes will be readily available and masks will be available for students who don't have them. The superintendents say 15%-20% of parents have elected to keep their children home and those students will be closely monitored to make sure they are in their online classes and doing the required work. Shawnee Superintendent Jim Kanable says, "Our hearts are in this. Everything that we do, everything that we talk about, everything we portray is all done with the aspect that we want your kids with us. We want to teach them. And we know we can do it."
Also at Monday's meeting we honored two new Paul Harris Fellows: Beth Seibert and Rashawna Perry. Currently 61% of our membership are Paul Harris Fellows. These are members who have given at least $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation or Polio Plus. Thank you for your generosity!
