The Atlantic Community School District’s nearly 65-page Return-to-Learn plan will be released tomorrow to parents and district staff via e-mail, and to the general public on the district’s website. The Atlantic School Board discussed the plan for well over an hour Wednesday night during their Work Session. (You can see and listen to the entire meeting on the KJAN Video Network page at kjan.com. Just click on the KJANTV logo and then the “On Demand” tab)

Superintendent Steve Barber said it is still the District’s plan to hold school in-person, beginning August 24th, just like a normal school year. But there will be adjustments both during the school year and on an as-needed basis for some students with special needs. Barber says the document “reflects the work that we’ve done from the District Leadership Teams, Sub-Committees in critical areas, some CDC (Centers for Disease Control), some IDPH (Iowa Dept. of Public Health) and the Governor’s Proclamation  guidelines that are followed in regards to that.”

Mr. Barber says it also reflects “remote learning, and provides some schedules for that.” The document provides guidance as well, with regard to safety, Iowa Academic Standards, tools being used for remote learning. Barber says “We are attempting to create social distancing as one of our major mitigation strategies. We have many other mitigation strategies that are going to be helpful for the health and safety of people.”

For example, he says: they will removes soft surfaces; doors will be kept open; the district has personal protective equipment (PPE) in inventory; Handwashing will be required; masks are available to staff and students who request them; gloves are also available; (disinfecting) foggers, and more. In fact, the district has on-hand: 1,000 cloth masks; 100 face shields; N-95 masks for school nurses, gloves and gowns.

Social distancing in the classrooms will be accomplished by using the square footage in the most accommodating means possible to spread kids out, but Barber asked rhetorically, “Will it look like the traditional start to the school year,” No was the answer. He says “Where you have 25 kids to one classroom? No. It may look a little bit different, but they will try to maintain a six-foot separation as a priority, and teachers “Will try to figure out innovative ways to serve them [the students], if they are in two different locations.”

The District has a 1:1 (One-to-One) rollout for laptop computers so every student has access to a computer. “Currently,” Barber says, “Our staff is being trained in Google Classroom, Zoom and SeeSaw, IXL and a few other tools, that not only are going to be helpful if you’re being educated in remote learning, but it’s also going to be helpful in the regular classroom.”

Barber says with new guidelines possible from the CDC or the legislature, the RTL plan is subject to change. For example, he says, the CDC has recommended persons attending school be fever-free for 24 hours instead of 72. That was adjusted in the district’s plan as well. Barber says there will be changes throughout the process, but that “Hopefully we’re successful in our on-site [learning] so we can remain doing that.”

In other business, the Atlantic School Board discussed various board policies, including those affected by public health regulations, excused student absences, appropriate use of online learning, and district operation during public emergencies.