Harry's Gang: While school is out, jury is out on plans for fall

School districts typically take summer time to clean and repair school facilities, plan for the following school year, and maybe take some time off for vacation. This year, however, many in the schools are busy trying to figure out how to educate kids while protecting them (and us) from the risks of the coronavirus.

The first day of school is right around the corner (sorry, kids), but the schools themselves aren't sure what is going to happen. Will there be kids in the classrooms? Or, will we continue "distance learning" the same way we finished out the last school year? Is there some compromise? What about sports and extracurricular activities?

Then, add in political pressures - from parents literally frightened at the prospect of homeschooling this fall to the president threatening to cut federal aid to schools that don't open. I don't envy school leaders at this time. They have a lot of decisions to make, and many of them are not the normal education-related issues.

Michael Cary, Cloquet schools superintendent, explained: "We are being required by the Minnesota Department of Education to create three scenarios for the coming school year. These scenarios were defined by the Minnesota Department of Health."

Scenario 1 is a return to normal, with all students attending school, in person. If that happens, schools will have to make a lot of safety changes and protocols. This is no easy task, especially since those guidelines are not completely defined yet and are subject to change as we get closer to Labor Day. Still, many parents are hopeful the schools open this fall, as normal as possible.

Scenario 2 is a hybrid model, where schools are open but with capacity limits, social distancing, and perhaps students attending classrooms every 2 or 3 days, rather than daily. To parents, this option would also require us to alter our normal schedules, to accommodate children at home far more than normal.

Scenario 3 is distance learning, similar to what we went through this past spring. This is likely the safest option, but the most disruptive for parents.

So, the schools have to plan for all three scenarios, because the decision won't be made by individual school districts - the state will decide which scenario will happen, and schools must be ready to produce.

Esko Superintendent Aaron Fischer expects the real work to start once the state decides which scenario will be used, keeping in mind that things can change depending on the level of infection in a particular area.

"Esko is in a pretty good place, since we've already done scenarios 1 and 3; if we are mandated to open the schools under scenario 2, we'll have some issues. For example, if we social distance 7 feet on a 77-capacity school bus, we can only carry 14 students. How do we get all the kids to school?" he said

"It is definitely creating a much larger than normal amount of planning for school administrators and staff," Cary said. "Normal functions are getting "backseat attention" and there's little doubt that we have less time to focus on our typical planning. That said, we'll do our best to be well prepared for students in the fall," he said.

I have no doubt that the schools will be prepared this fall, for whatever the state decides.

Cary reminded me that many in the community don't quite understand that the decision will be made at the state level through the collaboration of the Governor, Minnesota Department of Education and Minnesota Department of Health. "The school districts are not the ones who determine which scenario we are required to follow," he said.

Our paper will continue to cover this issue, and I will continue to comment on it, as the summer progresses. Meanwhile, I hope most school staff can enjoy the rest of the summer. For those who are working harder than they expected, we appreciate your efforts.

Pete Radosevich is the publisher of the Pine Knot News community newspaper and an attorney in Esko who hosts the talk show Harry's Gang on CAT-7. His opinions are his own. Contact him at [email protected].