City schools preparing for both virtual and in-person fall classes

New Albany school officials are trying to prepare for the fall semester, but without knowing what form it will take.

“We’re in the midst of putting together the plan for the school year,” Superintendent Dr. Lance Evans said. “It’s kind of difficult right now because every day we see different things are coming out. One minute people are talking about opening school as normal. The next, of course, you’re not.”

Evans told school trustees that they will have both in-person and virtual options.

“I think we have to be very careful about some type of a hybrid schedule because we will have to make a decision as to what we can and can’t do,” he said. “When it comes to that it can be very difficult getting students to and from in some of those hybrid schedules.”

“Based on the way that our virtual learning took place that’s pretty solidified about how it’s going to work,” Evans said. “The thing that will be different is say, for example, if we start the school year virtually the same expectations will be in place and grading will be very different.”

They will still have to work out something for the small percentage of students that don’t have connectivity at home.

“I’m going to put together a task force of parents and we’re going to send out a survey to gauge feelings of parents and some of their concerns starting the school year back,” he said. “I’m also going to send that to teachers.”

“That’s not to say that people have options one way or the other. That’s all in person,” he said. “You know when we start school back our students will be expected to be there unless they have some type of medical reason.”

Despite the planning, much remains up in the air, the superintendent said.

“ I think that anybody who says this is our concrete, we are doing it this way, are very premature in that decision making,” he said.

“Even though we have a basis for what the options are, you all see the news,” he told school board members. “You see how it changes day to day. So we’re working very diligently to make sure we’re not going to put our students, our teachers or any of our employees in harm’s way.”

Summer school is moving ahead but Evans added, “Any camps that we do will be toward the end of June, the first part of July. We will do some STEM camps, some coding camps.”

“As far as the in-person camps, right now it doesn’t look like we are going to have camps,” he said.

School officials do have plans in place to resume sports and other extra-curricular activities.

Concerning sports, Evans said they have the social distancing pieces put in place as far as practice is concerned and they have schedules in place.

“We’re taking all the precautions. We have a 14-day plan in place. The first part of it they’re not in the weight room,” he said. “We’re following all those recommendations with MHSAA and the CDC and as we progress there will be more of an evaluation as to whether we get back, when we get back into the weight room in more confined spaces.”

They have bought pallets of water so there is no crossover danger. “The athletes have it, they drink it and then they dispose of the bottle,” he said. “That way there’s no cross-contamination in any way.”

Coaches will be watching, asking questions and taking temperatures. “It’s basically the same questions you would be asked if you were walking into a medical facility,” Evans said.

Some challenges remain. For instance, right now you can’t even use a basketball that’s passed back and forth unless you disinfect it, which is very difficult, he said.

“These first seven to 14 days are solely meant to acclimate the students back to the temperature, the running and stuff like that,” Evans said. “Some kids may not have been doing very much physically. And that’s everything. That’s band all the way through anything athletic.”

In other business, trustees were told that some HVAC work still needs to be addressed at the high school in the bond-issue-funded renovation project and the windows still have not arrived. “The windows are supposed to be here in June,” Evans said. “As soon as they come in they will begin putting those in.”

Director of Accounting Services Suzanne Coffey reported that district revenue is about normal and expenses remain down some thanks to classes not having been held in the buildings.

She said work has begun on next year’s budget, although local school officials have not received information concerning what their allocation will be from the state.

In response to a question, she said the New Albany district is slated to receive a little more than $424,000 in CARES funds as a result of the pandemic. “But we’re still waiting to see what we can do with it and what we can’t,” she said.

In personnel matters, the board approved both end-of-year resignations and new hires for next year.

They approved:

• The resignation of Connie Keenum, Receptionist, New Albany School District Central Office.
• The resignation of Gary Peak, Bus Driver, New Albany School District Central Office effective May 12, 2020.
• The resignation of Laken McKenzie, Bookkeeper, New Albany High School effective at the end of the school year.
• The resignation of Lakyn Kirk. Teacher, New Albany High School effective at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
• The resignation of Michael Swann, Assistant Band Director, New Albany Middle/High School effective at the end of the school year.
• The resignation of Lee Allen Holt, Teacher, New Albany Middle School effective at the end of the school year.
• The resignation of Chelsea Hamilton, Assistant Track Coach, New Albany Middle School effective at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
• The resignation of Joanna Ozbirn, Speech Pathologist, New Albany Elementary School effective at the end of the school year.
• The resignation of Tiffany Wilson, Teacher, New Albany Elementary School effective at the end of the school year.
• The resignation of Heather White, Teacher Assistant, New Albany Elementary School effective at the end of the school year.
• The resignation of Carrie Blakemore, Media Specialist, New Albany Middle School effective at the end of 2019-2020 school year.

They also approved:

• Hiring Heather White, Teacher, New Albany Elementary School.
• Hiring Meagan Childs, Speech Pathologist, New Albany Elementary School.
• Hiring Joshua Presley, Assistant Football Coach, New Albany Middle School.
• Hiring Brandon Montgomery, Teacher/Head Baseball Coach, New Albany Middle School.
• Hiring Shawn Sanks, Teacher/Assistant Football Coach, New Albany High School.
• Hiring Carol Sadler, Bookkeeper, New Albany High School.
• Hiring Terry Stubblefield, Bus Driver, New Albany School District Central Office.
• Hiring Brandon Lang, Assistant Band Director, New Albany Middle/High School.

Before adjourning, the board went into executive session to discuss an unspecified personnel matter. No action afterward was reported.

The next school board meeting was set for Thursday, June 25, at 5:30 via Zoom. This is earlier than the usual first Monday date due to the upcoming July 4 holiday weekend.

The board will hold a public hearing on the budget for next year at 5 p.m. Monday, July 27, in the boardroom of the central office.