Cobb County School District posted in Cobb County School District:
Superintendent Ragsdale Announces a Start Date for Cobb’s Phased Model for Face-to-Face Instruction
The pandemic has impacted each of us differently, but it has affected us all. Never would I have thought about starting a school year in a 100% remote environment, nor would I have ever wanted to – but this had to be the decision with the health and safety of our staff, teachers, and students being the top priority. No one knows better than I the benefit of our 113,000 students actively engaged with our fantastic teachers in each of our classrooms.
Today, I am pleased to announce that the three parameters of community spread, effective contact tracing protocol, and efficient testing timeliness impacting our decision to offer face-to-face instruction have all been trending in a positive direction. This news allows us to announce the start date for our phased plan to provide both face-to-face and remote learning environments. On the Monday following Fall break, October 5th, 2020, we plan to begin Phase One of our return to face-to-face instruction. I trust that everyone will continue to do everything we can to keep the numbers moving in the right direction.
As we previously indicated, you will be able to submit your choice for face-to-face or remote beginning at 8:00 AM on September 7th through the ParentVue portal. The choice portal will close at midnight on September 20th.
One critical aspect of our plan is that as parents choose either face-to-face or remote-learning classrooms, students will continue to be taught by their current teachers. Face-to-face and remote-learning students in the same class will receive the same instruction from the same teacher. This will prevent disruptions to existing relationships students have made with teachers and will protect teachers from being asked to do two jobs at the same time.
*Phase One: All kindergarten through fifth-grade students will return for full-day instruction. ASP will also resume for students in face-to-face classrooms on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. All low incidence pre-K through 12th-grade special education students will be given a face-to-face classroom option during phase one. Phase one will begin on October 5th, 2020.
*Phase Two: All sixth through eighth-grade students for full-day instruction. Phase two will tentatively begin on October 19th, 2020.
*Phase Three: All ninth through twelfth-grade students for full-day instruction. Phase three will tentatively begin on November 5th, 2020. This is a Thursday start date because of Election Day.
The schedule for all students in both face-to-face and remote-learning classrooms will include direct instruction with the world’s best teachers on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesdays will continue to be reserved for individual and small group support, remotely, which will allow us to disinfect our school buildings as needed and allow parent/teacher conferences to be scheduled remotely. Conference week, which was originally scheduled for October 19th – 23rd, will now be regular school days. Additional information will be communicated in the coming days regarding student schedules and bus transportation.
Our health and safety protocols will be present to keep students and staff as safe as possible. Some of those protocols include:
- Social Distancing will be practiced whenever possible.
- Masks will be required on buses and in school buildings for students and staff, and whenever possible, when teachers are teaching.
- We will provide Hand Sanitizer at multiple locations throughout schools.
- We will also be following rigorous daily cleaning protocols.
- Our Food & Nutrition Services employees will continue making sure our students have nutritious meals.
- For the health and safety of our staff and students, we are limiting volunteers and visitors to the schools.
We remain committed to making decisions based on public health guidance, with student and staff safety being our top priority.
For those families who remain concerned about the health impacts of COVID-19, we will continue to have our remote learning classrooms available.
Thank you for your continued support, patience, and understanding as we move forward through our phased plan. I know the only way we will ensure success for each of our students is to continue working as One Team with One Goal.
Additional details for students and parents will be provided on Friday, September 4th and will be found on the digital home for Cobb’s Reopening Plan at CobbLearningEverywhere.com. Further information will be provided for our staff on the intranet and communicated by your principal.
*Each of the dates noted above is subject to public health data and guidance for Cobb County.
