By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–Meeting in lengthy special session this afternoon, the Paris Special Schools District board decided after much discussion to stick to the August 3 start date for the 2020-2021 school year.
On Tuesday, the Henry County Schools board met in emergency session and decided to delay the start of the school year for the county district to August 31.
PSSD district teachers received training just Wednesday morning in safety guidelines and protocols. Director of Schools Dr. Norma Gerrell said teachers in all three schools in the district received the training on-site in the buildings.
Dr. Gerrell said student temperatures will be taken as they get off the buses and as they get out of cars in the mornings before they enter the building. Any student whose temperature is higher than 100.4 will be directed to the nurses station which is separate from the rest of the building.
She noted that the state of Tennessee is distributing masks for staff and students and thermometers for all schools and that the supplies have already started arriving. The district received a big shipment just prior to the board meeting and she said the supplies will arrive in phases.
While the meeting was ongoing, Gov. Bill Lee issued a press release stating that the State Department of Education and TEMA are distributing 298,000 reusable masks for staff, thermometers for every school, and 27 million disposable masks for students. The state also is giving every teacher a safety kit with hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, gloves, and masks so no teacher has to pay for these supplies out of their own pockets, he said.
Even without the supplies from the state, Dr. Gerrell said after the meeting, “We are prepared. We have plenty of disposable masks and other supplies we need.”
PSSD will begin the school year in Stage 2 (or moderate risk). Under Stage 2: Masks are required on school buses, they will be expected in schools. They will be provided for students if they do not have a mask.
Dr. Gerrell said, “When/if we move to stage 4 due to virus spread, teachers will be providing virtual instruction to their students. The virtual academy option for remote learning and out of school virtual instruction are two different models of teaching.
Board Member John Steele asked whether any health officials had asked the district to delay school opening and Dr. Gerrell said no.
Dr. Gerrell said a comment made by Dr. Lisa Piercey, state health commissioner, at yesterday’s press conference with Governor Lee made an impact. Dr. Gerrell noted that Dr. Piercey commented that since schools abruptly closed in the spring, students have been without mental, physical, and emotional engagement.
Dr. Gerrell said with all the new protocols in place, the opening days of school will be slow-going and she hopes the public understands. “Until we get rolling, it will be slow. But we want to get everyone in and out as safely as possible and we hope people understand that will go slowly at first.”
Here is the 2020-2021 calendar:
August 3, 2020 First day for Students Abbreviated Day
September 7, 2020 Labor Day
September 18, 2020 Parent Teacher Conference
October 12-16, 2020 Fall Break
November 25-27, 2020 Thanksgiving Break
December 18, 2020 Abbreviated Day
December 21, 2020 Christmas Holiday
January 1, 2021 Christmas Holiday
January 4, 2021 Adm Day (No Students)
January 5, 2021 Students Return
January 18, 2021 Martin Luther King Day
February 15, 2021 President’s Day
March 29-April 2, 2021 Spring Break
April 23, 2021 Fish Fry
May 20, 2021 Adm Day (No Students)
May 21, 2021 Last Day of School Abbreviated Day
Photo: Rhea Elementary and the other PSSD district schools ready for the new year.