Plans revealed for what county schools will look like in fall
by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor
As the countdown toward the reopening of schools in Presque Isle County turns from months to days, the preplanning by school officials continues.
Back in the spring, when schools shut their doors for the 2019-2020 school year and in-person teaching turned to virtual, there was the belief that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) would be cleared up before in-person instruction could get underway again.
Unfortunately, the situation in Michigan, while not as bad as it was in April, has taken several steps backwards.
It has presented a multitude of challenges for administrators, teachers and support staff in getting close to what everyone knows as normal again.
Onaway Area Community Schools (OACS) opens the earliest, Aug. 25, followed by Posen Consolidated Schools (PCS), Sept. 1. Rogers City Area Schools (RCAS) returns the day after Labor Day, Sept. 8.
All three school districts will be returning to the classrooms, but with some slight differences in each respective district.
Rogers City to utilize desk barriers
According to RCAS superintendent Nick Hein, Rogers City’s public school district will be open for in-person instruction, while online learning opportunities will be available if necessary or requested.
“I have a dedicated staff who are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure students can succeed,” said Hein.
Students will be required to wear masks when passing between classes for sixth-grade students on up.
“Rooms will be sanitized during the transition,” said Hein. “Hand sanitizing stations will be available in all classrooms.
As an extra safety measure, barriers will be placed on desktops in every classroom.
On school buses, students will be spaced out as much as possible and be required to wear masks.
It will be the same in the lunchroom.
“Students will be spaced out as much as social-distancing allows and students will eat while adhering to social-distancing guidelines,” added Hein.
Additionally, temperature checks and health screenings will take place at home. Services will be offered if needed, Hein said.
“Specifics will continue to evolve as the situation is fluid and all districts are still missing important pieces of information from the state especially in the per pupil accounting area,” said Hein.
Onaway elementary will have lunch at their desks
Hard to believe that students in the OACS district will be back in class in only 19 days. For teachers it will be 18.
“The start date was determined after the state gave the clearance to start before Labor Day, which did occur sometime after the pandemic began,” said OACS superintendent Rod Fullerton. There will be no school from Sept. 4 through Labor Day.
Instruction will be face-to-face for parents and guardians comfortable with the situation. For those not, online instruction will be offered.
“Parents will be required to self-monitor their kids from home,” said Fullerton.
Busing will still be made available.
“Drivers and students will be required to mask and use hand sanitizer as they are entering the bus,” said Fullerton.
Students in grades six to 12, they will still change between classes and the desks will be wiped down after each session.
“Students will be required to wear a mask all day with the exception of while they are eating,” said Fullerton.
Lunch for the elementary students will be in the classroom.
“Recess will occur by classroom,” added Fullerton. “While students are outside at recess they will not be required to wear a mask as long as they stay with their class.”
There will be no open house this year.
Posen JR/HS students: core in the morn, electives at home
Posen schools will be offering both in-school and online instruction starting, Sept. 1.
Parents will opt in to online schooling by completing a survey or calling the school directly prior to Monday. All students online or in person are eligible to play sports, said PCS superintendent Michelle Wesner in a letter to the school families.
“Posen schools has made a commitment to keeping our students safe and creating an educational program that is flexible and adaptable to a variety of situations,” said Wesner. “Students will be following an online curriculum no matter where they choose to learn.”
Teachers will utilize the online platform in the classrooms throughout each day.
“ If a class, grade or building needs to take time out of school to quarantine, students will take their laptop home and continue on with the lessons in order and sequence just as they had been in school.”
Wesner said staff is working on a schedule where junior and senior high students will be able to take their core classes in the morning and having the option of leaving school at lunch and logging on from home for their fifth- and sixth-hour electives.
Lunch and rece
Busing will be available only to those students who have no other way to get to and from school.
“We are limited to how many students we can fit on a bus with proper social distancing,” said Wesner. Students will be required to wear masks, sanitize their hands and sit in assigned seats.
And to further limit contact, buses will be dropping off students in the back parking lot.
Parents picking up students will have to wait at the outer edge of the main front lot as students are dismissed starting with the kindergartners first.
“We have strict guidance to follow and have worked tirelessly for months creating our plan to work our way back to school,” said Wesner.