Omaha Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Logan gave an update on their preparations to re-open school this fall in a letter sent out to staff and families of students on Monday.
“As we have previously shared, we’re planning for a range of possibilities,” Logan wrote. Next week, the district will recommend to their board of education to start the school year one week earlier than planned. If approved by the board, school would begin Aug. 11.
“We anticipate an extended winter break by one week to accommodate for the earlier start,” Logan wrote.
Families will soon be invited to complete a survey about the upcoming school year in regards to learning routines and safety measures.
During its meeting Monday night, the Millard Public Schools Board discussed five options for the 2020-2021 school year regarding COVID-19.
A lot of it depends on what the health directives and recommendations will be down the road. There was also a discussion about how elementary students need to be in school more so than their older peers.
The five options discussed:
Option 1: Start Aug. 10 as planned with health precautions, cleaning, and safety measures in place with 179 school days.
Option 2: Start either Sept. 1 or 8, and end May 28 or June 4. This would be 174 school days. All breaks would be shortened and snow days would mean remote classes instead of no classes.
Option 3: Preschool, kindergarten, and elementary students would learn in school every day. Middle school students would be taught in a combination of in-person and remote learning. High school students would be taught primarily remotely, with some in-person schooling.
Option 4: Open schools at 50 percent capacity. Students with last names A through K would be taught in-person Mondays and Thursdays, L through Z in-person Tuesdays and Fridays. All students would do remote learning Wednesdays and the days they are not in school during the week. Wednesdays would be utilized for deep-cleaning the schools
Option 5: 100 percent of students remote learning. No decisions were made on what options may be pursued.