By Phil Blackwell
An important week for the Jamesville-DeWitt School District began with a change to when classes would start for the district’s students.
Now the first day is on Monday, Sept. 14, with two different conference days scheduled for October and November moved up in the calendar to Sept. 8 and 9.
Then, on Sept. 10 and 11, orientation would take place for kindergarten students along with students in fifth and ninth grade who are making transitions to new school buildings, along with new students in the district.
All of these moves, said superintendent Dr. Peter Smith, were made to help staff members prepare and adjust to a new educational environment.
“These changes provide for our teachers to learn what they need to learn and acclimate their plans,” said Smith.
This all followed the results of a survey taken by the district finding out how many of its parents would send their children to class when buildings open in September.
Smith laid out the survey information during the J-D Board of Education meeting on Aug. 24 where the calendar changes were approved.
Nearly 2,500 families were included in that survey, which revealed that 77.8 percent of families would have their children attend in-person classes, with 22.2 percent deciding to keep students at home for remote instruction for at least the first 10 weeks of the school year.
Since just 31.2 percent of respondents said they would use buses for transportation, Smith said that all bus routes will be maintained without adjusting them for social-distancing reasons. Plus, 35.4 percent of households required an IPad or Chromebook for daily instruction.
Smith also laid out the district’s plans for what would take place should a student or staff member get diagnosed with COVID-19.
It involves working with the Onondaga County Health Department on testing and contact tracing, along with a quarantine of close contacts for 14 days. A negative test would be required to return to class.
Earlier this month, the district had announced that elementary school students and at-risk students would attend classes four days a week and all other students would go to classes two days a week, the “hybrid” model.
A key component in any restarting plan involves COVID-19 testing, and all of J-D’s employees are eligible to receive those tests from the Onondaga County Health Department this Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m at J-D Middle School, along with employees from nearby Christian Brothers Academy and Manilus-Pebble Hill.
The board meeting also continued the district’s long debate over whether to maintain a student resource officer position tied to the DeWitt Police Department for the 2020-21 school year.
During the public comment period, several speakers voiced their opposition to maintaining the SRO, citing alleged incidents of racial tension within school buildings and their desire to instead have guidance counselors do most of that conflict resolution.
Board members had a variety of opinions on the topic, ranging from support of the SRO to desiring modifications or further information.
Nate Franz, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and J-D High School assistant principal Candance Johnson, are chairing a task force to further explore the SRO issue.
This task force, set to include more than 40 district members including teachers, students and parents, will meet over the next three months and survey the community about their preferences.
But the school year will not start with an SRO as the board rejected a memorandum of understanding which would have that position in place from September through December while the task force does its work.
Meanwhile, the district, as required, is submitting its safety plan to its web site for a 30-day period, gathering public comments until a vote on final approval in early October.
