Members of the Great Bend USD 428 Board of Education knew when they reviewed the latest School Re-start Plan on Monday that it was subject to change. In fact, the school board wasn’t asked to formally approve it; that decision is expected later this month.
The plan was for school to start as scheduled with students in their classrooms – or starting their remote education if that was the family’s choice – on Aug. 20. But by Wednesday, Gov. Laura Kelly had announced that all Kansas schools would wait until after Labor Day to reopen.
Everyone who is trying to plan what comes next during the COVID-19 pandemic faces the same problem. As Barton Community College’s head men’s basketball coach Craig Fletchall told the Great Bend Kiwanis Club members earlier this month, “I’m not sure what the future holds. I say we’ve got a schedule; it may change a week from now.” Or a day from now.
Speaking of Barton officials, the BCC Board of Trustees also met this week and discussed plans for the fall semester. But during this pandemic, plans can change from day to day. All of the planning meetings, and all of the work done in them, may result in a lot of people spending a lot of time together – and then starting over when someone else announces a different plan.
In announcing that K-12 schools should not reopen in August, Governor Kelly noted the state’s record-high infection rate in the past week. And she wasn’t willing to leave the option to “home rule.”
“We have already seen what happens when guidelines are voluntary,” she said at her Wednesday press conference.
Our school officials are waiting for more information, but we wonder whether K-12 schools can be any safer on Sept. 9 than they will be on Aug. 20. Of course, by then it may be apparent that we’re not going to be ready for anything but remote learning until spring. Our schools are also preparing for a hybrid approach that combines on-site and remote education.
So for now, the plan to delay the start of school until Sept. 9 makes sense. Of course, that could change in a day.
