Eudora Schools to move into modified in-person learning in early October

Board members discuss next steps for reopening schools at a meeting Thursday.

BY SYDNEY HOOVER

Eudora Schools will move into a modified in-person learning model beginning Oct. 5, the Eudora School Board determined in a 6-1 vote Thursday night.

The modified in-person model will have all students in school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with Wednesday remote to disinfect the buildings. This was originally the district’s recommendation for a hybrid model.

Superintendent Steve Splichal recommended the change to the board following two weeks of an A/B hybrid model, which he said will not be sustainable for staff or students.

“A failure to act, to me, only allows ourselves the opportunity to have additional people who are absent,” Splichal said.

Splichal said in addition to causing stress for students, parents and teachers, the hybrid model is only trading one health concern for another — fears of the coronavirus for students’ mental health — and it is causing tension in the community before every board meeting.

Demonstrators were present ahead of the board meeting calling for schools to move back to an in-person learning model. Parents and students spoke to board members as they entered West Resource Center, and some held signs reading “I am not a teacher. My home is not a school” and “No remote 4 me.”

Board members agreed the modified in-person model would provide more consistency for families.

“Working through this, sitting in this seat, I understand why districts would say remote is the only thing we can do, because that’s the only guarantee you have,” said board member Samantha Arredondo. “I think we didn’t because we’re trying. So let’s try this and if it doesn’t work, let’s try something else … To me, that’s what it means to be a community and to work through these challenges together.”

Board member Lynn Reazin talks with demonstrators outside West Resource Center about opening schools fully in-person ahead of a board meeting Thursday.

This comes as Eudora Elementary School closes its doors for the next week due to staff members testing positive for the coronavirus. Splichal said in addition to two staff members with positive tests, two more are awaiting test results and are exhibiting symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.

Splichal said the closure was an attempt to stop the spread and get students back in the building as quickly as possible. The board agreed to leave Eudora Middle and High Schools in the A/B hybrid model for the next week, and all three schools will reopen in a modified in-person following Eudora Elementary’s closure.

Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health Director Dan Partridge told board members at the meeting that while the number of positive cases is still high, the positivity rate is improving. The county is currently around 8% positivity, but he hopes to see it continue going down.

Partridge told board members they need to be clear and communicative with the community as Eudora Elementary is closed because the closure will only be effective if families also stay distanced from one another.

“You just can’t predict tomorrow. Really the only thing we can do is help encourage one another to do the right thing,” Partridge said. “It’s not a policy that’s going to turn this thing around, it’s everyone doing what they can do to limit the spread of disease.”

Schools will remain in this modified in-person model until the county has been in phase green for two weeks, in which schools would move fully in-person, or if the county recommended schools move entirely remote. The School Board will next meet for a regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 8.

Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at eudoratimes@gmail.com.

To donate to support our community journalism, please go to this link: tinyurl.com/y4u7stxj