Schools will open on time Aug 11 looking a quite a bit different
Botetourt County Public Schools are working to open school on August 11, but it will look and feel different. Dr. Massie the interim School Superintendent made the announcement of the plan to open at the regular school board meeting on June 11.
He said, ”The school division is working to make the plan to open on time. But it will have to be within the guidelines.” (We have a previous story on the guidelines Gov. Ralph Northam gave in three phases on Tuesday June 9.) Dr. Massie also said, “We anticipate opening and following the adopted school calendar. A letter goes out from the school division to parents, faculty and staff on Friday, June 12.”
Massie explained the biggest challenges will be classroom capacity as well as transportation which may result in staggered scheduling. The School Division will have to follow the guidelines from the CDC and VDH (with social distancing and masks etc.) as well as the Governor’s task force and the guidance of the VDOE. BCPS will have to present 2 plans to the VDOE by no later than two weeks prior to opening. The Division hopes to have a draft version by the end of June.
Dr. Janet Womack said there is a VDOE system called Virtual Virginia that has been in operation for years that has taught classes and it is moving forward as an insrtruction based on past success. “It is a powerful learning management system,” she said. Tim Davidic the Valley District School Board member had a number of questions on the remote system. It is basically for high school learning at the time. But, it can be a teacher platform for learning on middle school level. It can be adapted for the students without broadband which is a true problem in the more rural areas of the county.
The core of Virtual Virginia is English, Math, Science and Social Studies as well as some STEM Classes. It does interface with Google Classroom according to Womack.
A number of parent advisory groups, ( and will continue to do so) have met with Massie and other central office staff. And, according to Womack, there will be some type of way for parents to add info through a survey or social media in the next few weeks.
There will be a combination of remote access and in class activities as the plans progress. Chairman Michelle Crook explained that the school board seeks input from the parents, students and others on the formulation of the school year to come. It will arrive via a social media survey and also on the school division website.
Stay tuned for more.
Cathy Benson
