A student is seen sitting at a desk with a bottle of hand sanitizer wearing a mask. Clarke County School District Chief Administrative Officer Brannon Gaskins describes CCSD’s reopening plan. “On a block schedule, classes are 90 minutes and we would extend that time with frequent breaks. We’re leaving it up to the high school principals and they’ll get feedback from teachers to decide (if) they want to do more than two classes per day” Gaskins said. Illustration by Audrey Kennedy
Graphic Designer Audrey Kennedy: Could you give me a quick recap of how the decision to push opening (Clarke County schools) back (up) until Sept. 8 was made?
Clarke County School District Chief Administrative Officer Brannon Gaskins: Yes, so we’ve been keeping in contact with what the (Georgia) Department of Health has said about the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Athens-Clarke County and our surrounding areas and those numbers continue to go up. We also sent out a survey for parents and families regarding their desired start date. A lot of families are hesitant about sending their kids back to school with those rising numbers. The survey revealed to us that about 60% of our families wanted to (move the) start date (to) Sept. 8. With the rising cases of COVID in our area and the time that we would need to get ready and ensure to supply our teachers and staff with Personal Protective Equipment and ensure that our enhanced safety measures are in place, we decided to recommend (this new start date) to (CCSD Board of Education) which they approved last night (July 16).
AK: If the hybrid schedule results in an increase in cases, what’s the plan for that?
BG: We’re creating protocols to try and contain (the spread of COVID-19). If we find out that a student has COVID and they weren’t in a contained environment, we would notify the students that were in contact with the individual as well as adults and ask them to self-quarantine. But as you know that is very hard in high school, so we will probably have to shut down the high school for a number of days. That’s why I think a lot of our high school principals are leaning towards that (totally) virtual option.
“But as you know that is very hard in high school, so we will probably have to shut down the high school for a number of days. That’s why I think a lot of our high school principals are leaning towards that (totally) virtual option.”
— Brannon Gaskins,
Clarke County School District Chief Administrative Officer
AK: Say Sept. 8 comes and we’re not in a better place to go to school. Is there a vague plan of what to do then?
BG: Yeah, our contingency plan is that we will probably have to go 100% virtual at our high school(s).
AK: Could you describe to me what an average hybrid schedule school day would look like?
BG: We would divide students into groups, an A group and a B group. A group would come to school two days a week, B group would come to school two alternating days, and then everybody would be home learning digitally on Friday. For example, the A group might be based on their letters and they would go to two classes on one day and two of their other classes on a separate day. We’ve also talked about modifying the bell schedule so it wouldn’t be as long as a regular school day. So kids will have two periods, advisement, lunch and then they’ll go home.
AK: How will social distancing be enforced during transition periods?
BG: We will have signage in our hallways reminding students to social distance, and we will have staggered transitions, so it wouldn’t be the regular when the bell rings everyone gets up and leaves. We’ll try and stagger those transitions so there are not multiple kids in the hallway at the same time.
AK: Will (Personal Learning Devices) still be distributed to students who don’t have access to computers or internet at home?
BG: Yes, so we are ordering additional hotspots, we’re providing devices to all of our students (and) we’re working on connectivity for those that don’t have that at home.
AK: How are you working on that?
BG: We got a grant from the (Georgia Department of Education) and the DOE has provided us with eight hotspots that we can actually put on our school buses and ride into neighborhoods. The bus can drive into a neighborhood and sit in a parking complex nearby where families live and students will be able to access a hot spot. Then we’re also buying individual hotspots with our school district money so students can check out a hotspot and use it at home.
AK: Seniors typically receive a lot of help regarding searching and applying for colleges. Will that assistance start once school officially begins, or will they be able to receive help the same amount of time previous seniors got?
BG: We’re going to make things as normal as possible, (and) we’re actually going to try to engage with our students as early as Aug. 17. Students won’t be required to engage with counselors and staff but as you mentioned, there are some seniors who really want to get the ball rolling on their college applications and on their reference letters and all of those things that they (will) need, so we’re going to get that started as quickly as we can. Hopefully, that will be two weeks before school starts.
“We’re going to make things as normal as possible, (and) we’re actually going to try to engage with our students as early as Aug. 17.”
— Brannon Gaskins,
Clarke County School District Chief Administrative Officer
AK: Will the custodial staff have to work more?
BG: So part of what we want our custodians to do is on Fridays, when there is no school, allowing them to (do a) deep cleaning, so that will help (prevent the spreading of COVID-19). The other thing is that we are going to provide teachers with sanitizing things for their classrooms so they can sanitize in between transitions.
AK: What does this hybrid schedule mean for extracurriculars?
BG: Right now our fall sports have been conditioning, so football, volleyball and softball. The Georgia Hospital Association has given us some guidance about how to catch up those sports, so one of their guidelines is that we can’t include any balls. With football and softball you can imagine they’d be passing the ball back and forth but these practices exclude the ball. The other thing that we’ve done is that students are working in small groups and they maintain these groups all through practice.
AK: In a future where (games) are canceled and these extracurriculars aren’t working towards a goal, will they stop altogether or continue in some modified way?
BG: I mean we’re always trying to look at what other states and other districts are doing. There are some other states that have pushed back fall sports to spring. To be honest with you, I think we’re going to take our notes on what college football does, you know, (the) University of Georgia has such a big impact on us. I think if college football cancels their season, we would cancel our season as well, and if they move their fall season to spring, we would maybe try to mimic that.
“I think if college football cancels their season, we would cancel our season as well, and if they move their fall season to spring, we would maybe try to mimic that.”
— Brannon Gaskins,
Clarke County School District Chief Administrative Officer
AK: Is there anything else you’d like to add that I didn’t touch on?
BG: I would just add that things are ever-changing. The (CCSD) task force has really empowered our principals to make the next step with what’s best for their schools and our principals are engaged with their faculties as well as their student population to make sure they’re making the right decision.
