Employees of Miami Trace Local Schools returned to campus this week following a summer of preparing to handle both COVID-19 and students back in the classroom
In-person classes ended in early spring — due to the virus — for the previous school year.
This week marked the start of going back to school for Miami Trace with employees of the district attending meetings on Thursday to learn about their role in the upcoming school year, as the district works to educate students but also keep COVID-19 infections from rising on campus. With a slew of new orders from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to help combat the virus — including a state-wide mask mandate for kids and adults returning to school — Miami Trace Superintendent Kim Pittser said that a traditional setting is being supported by Fayette County Public Health, but the district is ready to change if needed to one of two other plans.
“The administrators and supervisors held effective sessions for our staff today as they reviewed safety protocols and different learning plans our students may experience,” Pittser said on Thursday. “We expect to return in Plan A-traditional setting, but we acknowledge the importance of transitioning to any of the learning plans our task force team prepared (A-Traditional, B-Hybrid, or C-Remote). The focus was on ensuring staff members know all the procedures and processes for the three learning plans. (Friday) and all of next week, we will continue our preparation for delivering instruction in the varied formats.”
As the first of day of school for students approaches on Aug. 24, Miami Trace officials also said recently they are preparing to teach approximately 16 percent (or 428 out of 2,600) of the student population in the district’s special online program — the Panther Virtual Academy.
“Our staff members were enthusiastic today,” Miami Trace Assistant Superintendent Rob Enochs said. “They were engaged in our sessions and cooperative with the protocols put in place. We used all our campus facilities to conduct the meetings so that our teams could focus on their roles in the different learning plans.”
For more information or questions on the re-opening at Miami Trace, Pittser has encouraged parents and guardians to contact their child’s building as well as check the district’s website (https://www.miamitrace.k12.oh.us/ResetRestartMiamiTrace.aspx) for continual updates.
“We appreciate the support of all our staff during this time,” Pittser said. “Things can change daily, and they remain cooperative and supportive.”
The information in this article was provided by Miami Trace Local Schools. Stay with the Record-Herald for more information as it becomes available.
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy.
