KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Grandview School District is one of several districts across the Kansas City metro delaying its start date for the 2020-2021 school year.
Students will start classes on Sept. 8.
"Right now, the most difficult decision that any school district can make is to say that we're going to do any form of distance learning and it not involve students physically being in front of us. The way that we've always done it, we have kids in front of us and we interact with them differently," Grandview Superintendent, Dr. Kenny Rodrequez said. "So we know that that's always going to be a difficult decision. And when we started this process a couple of months ago, I never thought that we would be here, but we know that it's just it's difficult because it's not the decision that we want to make. We want our kids and our staff and everybody to be back in school and things to be like it was."
Dr. Rodrequez said the decision for its new reopening plans, was made after following recommendations from the Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department, the Jackson County Health Department, local government officials and seeing the rise in positive COVID-19 cases in Jackson County, Missouri.
"When I see that Jackson County is at 12.33 percent of positive cases in terms of who they're testing right now, that's a danger zone," Rodrequez said. "We shouldn't be that high in terms of our percentage population being tested positive, so those are the kind of things that we're looking at, as well as how many consecutive days we're seeing an increase in the number of people who are testing positive."
As reopening plans were first being discussed, families could choose between two options for the 2020-2021 school year: Blended learning (a mixture of both in-person and distance learning) or solely distance learning.
However, the Board of Education recently approved two items in regards to the upcoming school year: The delayed start date and families who selected in-person learning as an option will now start the school year distance learning.
Dr. Rodrequez said it was critical to look at every person who will be in the school buildings on a daily basis.
"Fifty percent of my staff is over 50 and 20 to 25 percent is over 60," Dr. Rodrequez said. "And I know any one of them have underlying health conditions like that. So you have to take all those things into account. But the bottom line is you have to look at the student population - what's going to be the best interest in our students first. As a parent also of a child in this district, I have to be able to look people in the eye and say, 'The decision that we are making is in the best interest of everybody involved.'"
While students will start 100 percent online, district leaders are looking at plans to potentially bring groups of students in for in-person learning over time.
"Even if it's bringing small groups of populations in at different times. I have some special needs populations and other students that are at high risk," Dr. Rodrequez said. "Even during this initial time, we may be bringing in small groups of students to be able to work with them during this time to make sure that we don't have any students fall through the cracks."
While the goal is to get 100 percent of students back inside the classroom, once cases decline, virtual learning won't go away.
"This distance learning is still going to have a place," Dr. Rodrequez said. "What I'm excited about is at some point, when we don't have to worry about the pandemic or talking about snow days. Snow days are kind of a thing of the past. Now we can actually do distance learning during those days, and say, 'Hey everyone's staying at home today. Today's a distance learning day.'"
And while school won't physically be in session, district leaders said it's crucial engagement and other services are provided for students during this time.
"Even this summer we're in conversations with our community partners and how do they deliver better services to our students even in a virtual environment," Rodrequez said. "So to have Cornerstones of Care start to pivot around that as well and know that they are going to provide those services differently, but then to continue to tell our students, 'Hey, at any point in time, with Student Assistance Program, you can call, a text you can email, and get help from a licensed therapist.' I never want any of our kids or families to think that they're alone, even when they're not physically with us in that particular regard."
The district held a Facebook live event to discuss reopening plans and answer frequently asked questions. To learn more, click about the district's reopening plans, visit their website.
