TORRINGTON – An unsourced viral post on social media about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a minor panic online. But the real measures released by the CDC last week aren’t nearly as strict or cut and dry.
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TORRINGTON – An unsourced viral post on social media about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a minor panic online. But the real measures released by the CDC last week aren’t nearly as strict or cut and dry.
Goshen County School District No. 1 Superintendent Ryan Kramer said the district is working with local officials to determine the best way to educate local students in the fall.
“We’re working with other superintendents in the state to discuss what they’ve seen and interpreted, and to come up with some ideas moving forward,” Kramer said. “Our guiding principles have been centered around our own county health officials and working with them to find out exactly how to interpret it for Goshen County.
“Some of the guidance coming from all over is so mixed, and trying to navigate those mixed items, and following expectations they have set locally, is the most important piece for us.”
Kramer said COVID-19 will play a factor when it comes to reopening schools, but the district is seeking input from different sources to make sure that whatever protocol the district uses is the best one.
“We’re going to – as we look at those items and visit with our teachers and administrators, and our local county health officials – determine what is the best fit for us and what that might look like for our students coming in the fall, and even the ones coming shortly for our summer school activities,” he said.
“Right now, it’s probably a little too soon for where we’re at. Things keep changing. Every other week it seems like we have further guidance and things. Right now, we’re just generating ideas. What it will probably look like is a three-tiered system.”
Currently, Kramer said, the working plan is based on input from Goshen County Public Health and health data. And as it was in the world before the pandemic, the educational component will be the most important factor.
“The best case scenario is where we’ll return to almost traditional activities, incorporating social distancing components, to the worst case scenarios where we have a hybrid of some things with our online learning platform and face-to-face teaching,” he said.