ByWTOC Staff,Blair Caldwell,Zach Logan,andBria Bolden|September 9, 2020 at 11:25 AM EDT - Updated September 9 at 1:19 PM
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System is expected to discuss possible options for returning to in-person learning during Wednesday’s school board meeting.
During a board workshop Wednesday morning, the school board looked at a four phase plan.
District leaders announced that staff will return Oct. 12. But as for a date for students, even that first group, was not given.
The first group to return will be Pre-K through second grade and the least independent learners. What that looks like is students will be placed in cohorts and have a hybrid model attending in-person classes half the week and online the other. They will have age appropriate facial coverings and use staggered times for lunch, recess and breaks.
The second phase also includes extra circular schedule developments.
District leaders then will bring grades 3-5 and 6 and 9 in phase three, with all students then coming back at phase four.
This is right now set on having daily new case rate per 100,000 people at less than 1. Some board members felt that was not realistic or what’s best for students.
“If we are really committed to this less than one per one-hundred thousand on a daily rolling average, we are looking at those five grades not returning to school for a year or two and I think that is not acceptable under any model, so we have got to commit to bringing them back before this green zone that is really difficult,” SCCPSS Board Member Julie Wade said.
“I think that we owe it to ourselves, to our students, to our teachers, to have numbers in each one of these phases understanding that the numbers might go the wrong direction and if they do we have to again discuss what we’re going to do at that time,” SCCPSS Board Member Dr. David Bringman said.
Board members say they need to see and set some hard numbers to make sure families have a clear idea of when the phased approaches could happen according to local COVID-19 data.
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