The Final Word – Back To School Safely

by Diane Lowrey
R-T Editor
Area school administrators are busy working on plans to allow students and staff to safely return to the classroom this fall amid concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
There have been lots of questions from parents, staff, students and patrons about what is going to happen this school year
Earlier this week, Princeton R-5 Superintendent Jerry Girdner announced school would start there on Aug. 25, with students attending in-person classes on a five-day per week schedule. The district, Girdner said, would be working with the Mercer County Health Department to develop a plan that would include measures “for a safe re-entry for every student, teacher, parent and patron of the district.” The plan is anticipated to be finalized later this month.
The Trenton R-9 School District, last week, asked parents/guardians to complete an online survey, seeking their input as district administrators develop the R-9 plan for the start of school. The school year is scheduled to start on Aug. 25 – but how classes will be conducted, safety precautions for any in-building activities and transportation are among the issues still to be worked out. Those were among the topics covered in the survey and I hope R-9 parents/guardians took the time to express their opinion (the survey was available on the school district website until this past Wednesday).
In conversations with R-9 Superintendent Mike Stegman, administrators will be using the survey information to help develop the district “back to school” plan and create the best situation possible for students and staff to safely return to the classroom. The Grundy County Health Department will also provide input to the R-9 District regarding local, state and national health guidelines.
I’m not naive enough to think that whatever plan school officials come up with, there won’t be some disagreement from parents, staff and/or patrons of the district – classroom instruction, virtual instruction or a combination; require a mask, make a mask optional; go to the cafeteria to eat, eat in the classroom – the list of decisions goes on and on and there is no clear-cut right or wrong answer. But I’m also not naive enough to think Trenton R-9 officials won’t keep safety at the forefront when developing the district plan.
It’s obvious that school administrators want students and teachers back in the classroom, otherwise, there wouldn’t be all the discussions addressing safety precautions. While R-9 students were able to finish the 2019-20 school year at home using a combination of online instruction by teachers and home instruction by parents, it was hardly the ideal educational situation and something most parents and teachers would not like to see repeated.
We need to trust our school officials to develop and implement, with our input, what they determine to be the best course of action to follow, give the plan a chance and allow for modifications to fit the scenarios that may pop up once the school year gets under way. They really do have the best interest of students and staff in mind by developing a plan to provide a safe educational environment. We need to support their efforts.