Back-to-school plans come together

Plains has planned far ahead to implement their strategy for reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since June, school officials and teachers have been working on a solution to meet all of the state and federal guidelines, as well as to give their students the education that they deserve.

“There’s an element for staff safety that cannot be forgotten,” said Thom Chisholm, superintendent for the Plains Schools. He explained that every effort will be taken for the well-being of both students and staff.

Plains’ solution is a modified school calendar and workday. Ordinarily students in high school would be attending between 8:20 a.m. and 3:40 p.m., however, in the fall Plains High will hold a longer school day, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Class will also be held four days a week, with the students split into two schedules: A and B. Classes will be split in half and one group will meet on Monday and Wednesday, while the other will meet on Tuesday and Thursday. Meaning each group will have two-day school weeks. This will mean that half of the student body will be meeting every other day, splitting the population each day in half. This will increase the ease of following social distancing guidelines as well as to shorten the time spent screening students before they enter the school buildings. Screening will happen to everyone who enters the buildings every morning and upon reentry, should anyone leave during the day.

School will not be held weeks where there would only be three days of school, such as holiday weeks. This is being done in an effort to prevent one group from getting less or more days of class than the other.

On Fridays, the school will be deep cleaned, and between each class attempts will be made to sanitize the classrooms. Students will not be required to wear masks, however, should they want to, masks will be allowed and encouraged. The school just ordered a bulk of PPE (personal protection equipment) such as masks, sanitizer and several ionized fogging machines to aid with decontamination on Fridays. They will also have plexiglass installed in the main office. Funding for these additions and supplies comes from the CARES Act as well as from the Montana Coronavirus Relief Fund.

Grab-and-go lunches will be eaten in classrooms. Some furniture, such as a portion of the desks and tables, will be removed from classrooms in further attempt to spread out students. Busses will space students into family groups to encourage more social distancing. Busses will also be sanitized regularly. The elementary school will still have recess; however, it will be more structured and before school drop-off “free time” will no longer be allowed to prevent any before school spread.

Should the state go to Phase 3, school will return to a normal schedule.

“We are all scared of the unknown, and this whole situation is the unknown,” said Chisholm. However, he said that Plains Schools want to play it safe. He explained that no matter a person’s view on the situation, the guidelines are still there, and the schools still need to follow them. The overall safety of the schools comes first, according to Chisholm.