rachelh@myweeklysentinel.com
CANTON — Canton Area School District discussed the confusion surrounding the state with schools reopening this fall at the Aug. 13 meeting. Canton School District will return for classes on Monday, Aug. 31.
“Tonight board, you will vote to approve the use of flexible instruction days for our school district, should an emergency arise and we need to use those days,” said Superintendent Dr. Eric Briggs.
“There’s a chance we may never have to use these days, however, I believe it’s in our best interest to approve these days.”
Briggs says the flexible instruction days will have an attached plan that will be sent to the PA Board of Education for approval.
“I want to publicly thank the six teachers who helped us write those lesson plans,” said Briggs.
Briggs referenced the District 4 meeting he attended with Canton High School principal Donnie Jacopetti.
“In Canton, we will continue to move forward with our sports this fall,” said Briggs, “However, I think it’s important to understand that if orders come from the governor’s office or any state agency change, we will administratively look at what those orders mean for us and our student athletes and re-evaluate the situation based on said orders.”
He provided the district with the re-opening plan, which was prepared by the administrative and pandemic team. “They have worked diligently to fine-tune these documents so students can safely return on Aug. 31.”
He said the plans will be guiding documents for the staff this school year.
“We want the community to understand that we see obstacles with hybrid plans, which were not included in the document,” said Briggs. The team gathered information from local parents/guardians.
Briggs also announced that until further notice, the building will not be used by outside folks, “due to the safety of our children.”
He said they will be monitoring the pandemic situation weekly and will communicate with the public when they feel it is OK for outside groups to enter any of the buildings.
The first three days of school will include practicing enforcing the social distancing rule.
“The creation of smaller homerooms due to online options will allow us to implement school-wide mask breaks,” said Briggs.
He stressed the importance of balance between emotional and physical breaks for students and instructional time for the teacher.
Briggs also addressed that while he is understanding of parent worries, he is concerned for what switching to online may do for the school district, citing a cost of more than $400,000 to the school district, or roughly $3,000 per student, when switching from traditional “brick and mortar” schooling to online.
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Briggs mentioned the retirement of Mrs. Kinney and Mr. Jerome Wynne and thanked them both for their years of service to the school district.
Maintenance staff have added the necessary protectants for COVID-19 and requirements by the state. On behalf of Mr. Jacopetti, Briggs thanked the maintenance staff for getting the buildings ready for the school year, “for this most unusual return.”
The next Canton Area School District meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 10. For more information on the re-opening plan or to contact the school, go to www.canton.k12.pa.us.