According to Dr. Joel the decision about returning to in-person school was not a hard one:
- - We are going to do everything we can to have school
- - And we will do anything that we can to keep everyone safe
The school officials and task force members have been working on the plan to reopen school since the pandemic was declared. And, every step of the way - managing school at the end of last year and opening up again this year - they have been with City and County health officials.
Dr. Joel also talks the mayor at least weekly. He would confer with her but also made sure she was supported. He believes that the mask mandate was very important in supporting the school's plan to reopen. It is easier to require masks in the schools if they are required in all public places.
Steve visited 15 schools this past week - observing, supporting and talking with students, faculty and parents. He was pleased with what he saw and heard. He reported that the kids are happy to be back in school as well as the faculty. They know that this cannot be taken lightly.
Everyone is respecting the distancing, elbow bumps rather than hand shakes and hugs, and wearing masks. They do take a mask break once an hour for 3-5 minutes which helps them be more comfortable.
The school has daily pandemic case updates. He is happy to report that there haven't been any cases spread within the schools per the tracking. There were 25 teachers that had to quarantine at the beginning of the year - all of those cases were contracted outside of the schools at social gatherings. Nobody can attend school or work at the school if they have any symptoms.
When we talked about the impact on the budget Steve stated that they have been able to keep things pretty stable. There were some that chose early retirement. And, others have been on leaves of absence. The decision is a very personal one, fears are legitimate, and they are being flexible. They also had some administrative staff return to the classroom so they have been able to replace teachers while still reducing budget. He did say that they could use additional substitute teachers so we should pass the word.
There are currently about 21% of the students who have opted remote learning. He feels that some may decide to come back to the classroom just because of the difficulty with remote learning. They have to be in all classes - 6 1/2 hours of the day.
Omaha Public Schools started the school season 100% virtual. They have also cancelled all Fall Sports. We are fortunate in Lincoln that our risk dial is not too bad. But, as long as there is a pandemic we need to be prepared to offer both options. There will be some societal changes that will become permanent. They are not allowing any outside influences to come into the schools to reduce the risk of spread - except TeamMates. They feel that the one-to-one benefit of TeamMates may be more critical now than ever before.
What can we do? Thank our educators and other staff in any way that we can.
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