BY SYDNEY HOOVER
This story was updated to reflect the correct date free meals will start. Meals will be provided starting March 23.
The Eudora School District will begin developing curriculum next week for online learning for the rest of the school year, Superintendent Steve Splichal said at an emergency school board meeting Thursday evening.
The district received recommendations from a state task force for continuous learning plans as schools close for the remainder of the 2019-20 year.
With these recommendations, staff will begin to develop how they will use online programs such as Google Classroom and Zoom Video Communications to continue educating students in all grade levels, Splichal said.
“I have never in my life seen [this] kind of impressive work,” he said of the recommendations. “Talk about moving mountains and shifting paradigms. We have education leaders, the best minds from across the state that helped create this document, this guidance.”
Splichal said staff intend for the continuous learning program to begin the week of March 30, but said the district will continue to update families daily as information becomes available.
He added there are still many unknowns, and although the district will continue to do the best it can to answer questions from the community, oftentimes an answer is not immediately available.
“We just ask for your patience and certainly for your grace in this endeavor,” he said.
The school district will also work to address ways to help families who do not have devices or internet connection to support the online learning curriculum. The School Board encouraged families in a message following the meeting to develop a daily schedule to provide structure for children throughout this unexpected break.
Additionally, starting March 23 free meals will be available to children in Eudora ages 1 to 18. The district will provide breakfast and lunch from multiple locations throughout town, but the child must be present for them to receive a meal. Splichal said further details on how this will work with consideration of social distancing will be provided Friday.
Hourly district employees will also receive paychecks as if they are still working, Splichal said.
Board President Eric Votaw thanked staff for their continued work despite being on spring break as the district received new information. Splichal also thanked members of the community who have stepped up to help with meals and other support for families over the last week.
Board Vice President Joe Hurla noted how quickly the situation has developed since last Wednesday.
“Thank you to all of our staff who have been working through a lot of wild cards. Certainly about 10 days ago none of this was even fathomable, so it’s pretty insane how things have developed,” Hurla said.
Plans for events such as prom and graduation are still unknown, but will be discussed as circumstances progress over the next several weeks. Right now, Splichal said the district’s top priority is to make sure students are being educated and what that will look like.
In an emotional closing to the meeting, Votaw addressed families and their continued support for the district and the community throughout an unprecedented time.
“To our families and our community, hang in there with us,” Votaw said. “We’ve got a really strong community and we’ve seen great stories of people in action doing good things for our neighbors and we ask you to continue that and keep that going.”
Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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