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By Jackson Blaze Staff
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. — Dr. Jose Reyes, Superintendent of Scottsboro City Schools, has released the following statement in regards to the progress with school reopening.
1) School Calendar – The school calendar was discussed at our Board Meeting and we will be updating our virtual days on our website shortly. The virtual days from our first release were through the month of September. After much consideration, I have decided to add the following as virtual days through the month of November: October 9th, October 23rd, October 30th, November 6th, and November 20th. Be reminded that schools are closed on October 12th for Columbus Day and on November 11th for Veterans Day. I will revisit the calendar towards the first of November and make further decisions at that time. These dates provided will result in the continuation of 4 days a week of face to face instruction for traditional students through November.
2) I would like to provide again my rationale for the 4 days of face to face instruction per week. First, we need to give traditional students who want to attend in person the opportunity to do so as many days a week as we can. Second, our teachers need the opportunity to have one day a week to prepare for their traditional classes along with the numerous other responsibilities that the pandemic has brought on them to include the virtual learning option. This day also gives our traditional students the opportunity to work virtually and be ready if at some point a school or schools must close. We are in an imperfect situation where there is no perfect answer but this arrangement is a compromise in an attempt to provide for students and teachers. Third, the one day a week E-Learning day gives the building 72 hrs to rest from students, allowing for extra cleaning by faculty and staff, custodial staff and CNP staff.
3) Wearing of masks – While our parents are not able to see what occurs at school, I want to say how proud I am of our traditional students and the way in which they have handled wearing masks and washing/sanitizing hands. As I visit schools almost daily, our students are practicing such diligence in these areas. Our faculty and staff are also setting great examples in these areas. This is truly making a difference and helping us keep our doors open.
4) Virtual students returning – We are having a few virtual students requesting a desire to return to the traditional setting early. We are glad that is occurring and hope that it is a testament to the smooth opening we have had overall. Initially, we have indicated that elementary students can return at the end of the 9 weeks and secondary can return at the end of the semester. My staff and I are looking at several options and will provide more information soon concerning potentially returning early. Please know that with traditional and virtual learning occurring at the same time, the back and forth of students changing options has its issues and is not as easy as one may think. In essence, you are running two schools in one at every location. Know that we are looking at this and will reach out soon.
5) COVID numbers – The first four weeks have gone about as well as I could have expected. Week one was a staggered start on August 17th with the first full week being the week of August 24th. For the week of August 17th, August 24th, August 31st, and September the 7th, the SCS has had 36 students quarantined for exposure. There have been 3 students quarantined for positive tests. All of these have been self reported by parents and those students have already completed the quarantine phase and are back in school or are currently in the quarantine phase. While we do not want any students to experience this, it is a blessing that any issues we have had have been reported by parents to us, meaning that our parents are doing a great job of keeping sick students at home and communicating with the schools. This is, in my opinion, the biggest factor for our success to this point in terms of working through our current situation. A big thanks goes out to our parents. During this same time frame (beginning the first day of school on August 17th, we have only had four SCS employees quarantined and as of this post, we only have one currently quarantined. 5) We must not relax as a Wildcat Family. We all need to continue to wear masks to the extent possible and continue to wash and sanitize hands. Let us continue to live life to the fullest but at the same time keep those measures up that we have implemented to remain as safe as possible. Even without COVID, we know that the end of November and the beginning of December beings flu season so let’s stay vigilant in what we are doing.
As always, I do my best to give you the best information possible. Please reach out to the appropriate school or Central Office administrator if you have any questions or concerns.
