District 91 asking parents, staff for feedback regarding its plan to reopen

IDAHO FALLS — Idaho Falls School District 91 released its reopening plan for the upcoming school year, but they’re asking parents and staff for feedback before it’s set in stone.

In an email to parents Tuesday, Superintendent George Boland said the goal is for all students to return to school in person in the fall. He explained that they do have options that will allow them to respond quickly to the changing local, regional, state and national COVID-19 conditions if needed.

The plan was drafted with input from the results of a parent survey, several advisory committees and guidance from the CDC, state and local health officials and other organizations, he explained.

“(We) looked at various plans from across the state and actually across the nation and tried to put a plan together that was reasonably comprehensive, but also concise enough that people would be able to read it and understand it,” Boland told EastIdahoNews.com.

The district’s plan is made up of a green, yellow and red system that outlines what students, staff and parents can expect under different conditions.

• Green: New Normal Operations — D91’s schools will reopen with all students attending school fulltime and schools implementing reasonable procedures in accordance with health guidance.
• Yellow: Learning With Caution — D91 will shift to a hybrid schedule with students attending school on alternate days so some students are learning part-time in school and some students are learning part-time at home. Based on conditions, hybrid schedules could be implemented in a single school, within a cluster of schools or districtwide.
• Red: Learn At Home & Stay Safe — In extreme conditions, which could include a local or state stay-at-home order, D91 will close schools and shift to remote learning for all students. Based on conditions, the board could close a single school, a cluster of schools or close all schools.

Fore more specific details regarding the three different color categories, click here.

“We tried to emphasize that those conditions could vary from school to school. So potentially, we could have 10 elementary schools that would be green and two that would be red,” he said. “There could be a scenario where we might have a case of infection or multiple cases in a school that would cause us to close a school, but not all schools.”

Parents and staff can provide input on the plan up until July 13 at noon. It will then go to the Board of Trustees for approval during the board’s regular meeting on July 15.

Once the Board of Trustees has approved the plan, principals and directors will develop plans to implement the district’s directives in their schools and departments. Staff will also be trained on the new health protocols and initiatives as they return to work in July/August.

The survey to provide input, can be found here.

“We try and will continue to work to build as much flexibility for individual families as possible based on their circumstances,” Boland explained. “If there’s a family that has a child or a family member who is at risk, maybe immunodeficient or something like that, then we’re going to do our best to accommodate those needs.”