Courtesy of our friends at WMBB-TV in Panama City, Florida
In a 5-0 decision, the Jackson County School District decided to delay their return to school by two weeks. Students will now return to class on August 24th as opposed to the district’s original start date of August 10th. The district says many factors led them to head in this direction.
“We have a school board that is very concerned about offering a safe learning environment for both students and staff,” said Larry Moore, Jackson County’s Superintendent.
While the Coronavirus is a major concern for the district, there were other reasons they made this decision. Moore says construction for the Marianna K-8 school could use the extra time. The same goes for the Graceville K-5 School.
“That project is going to be tighter so by postponing a couple of weeks will really help in that situation,” said Moore.
The additional two weeks will also benefit teachers as it will give them more time for training and to learn how to use Canvas, their new online learning system.
The teachers will return to school on August 17th.
“As we roll out this new method of learning and delivery, we want it to be first class. We want it done right,” said Moore.
At this time, it is not mandatory for students to wear masks when they return to school. But that could soon change.
“A couple of our board members had strong feelings about mandating masks to be work on buses and in hallways during class changes,” said Moore.
Moore says he is not opposed to that proposal and the district has scheduled a special board meeting for that issue to be discussed. The meeting will take place on July 28th at 4:00 p.m.