BY SYDNEY HOOVER
Eudora students will return entirely in-person for at least the first week of school in September following two half days at half capacity, School Board members decided Thursday.
On Sept. 3 and 4, students will attend half-days in cohorts similar to the district’s hybrid model to prepare for returning to school full time, in-person beginning Sept. 8 with new safety measures in place.
The 5-2 board decision came as community members pressed the district to reopen entirely for varying reasons. The board ultimately decided to reopen for in-person classes due to the stability of positive coronavirus test results in Douglas County, which are around 5%.
“I just want us to be cautious as we move into the fall that we aren’t overreacting and instead considering the trend as a whole, considering incidents in our building,” said School Board President Eric Votaw during the meeting.
The Douglas County Unified Command recommends schools open in a hybrid model while positive cases are between 5 and 10%. Votaw said the gating criteria from the Unified Command should be taken seriously, but should also not be the end all, be all of their decision.
Votaw said while health and safety of students is important, it is not the only factor that should be taken into consideration. He said the district also needs to consider the quality of education students are receiving, their mental health, and other factors.
Board members Becky Plate and Mike Kelso voted against the decision to fully reopen schools. Kelso expressed concerns that the board’s decision only took into account the students, and failed to address the health and safety of teachers and other staff members.
“Kids don’t go to school in a vacuum,” Kelso said. “It’s not just them in the building. There’s a whole bunch of other people in the building and we haven’t talked about them tonight at all.”
Superintendent Steve Splichal said it is possible the district could reopen virtual enrollment for families who want to opt into the virtual model following this decision. Families would be bound to that decision until the end of the first quarter, when they could reevaluate and potentially return to in-person learning.
School sports and activities will also return as normal, with added measures to ensure safety of participants. Several community members, including two football players who spoke at the meeting, asked for board members to allow for all activities to continue as normal, even in a hybrid model, to help with students’ mental health.
“Kids come to football as an escape from all personal issues,” said junior football player Silas Etter. “I know kids that play football because it’s all they’ve got in life. What happens when football gets taken away from them? They turn to poor decisions.”
Sports and activities are open for reevaluation by the board, should circumstances change. Sports will also depend on decisions from the Frontier League and the Kansas State High School Activities Association.
The board also approved a school facility usage plan that would allow Eudora School District groups to use facilities with an added fee for sanitizing. It would not allow outside groups to use the facilities for the time being.
Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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