Center Grove, Westfield Washington, change reopening plans; Pike to open online-only
(WISH) — Two school districts in suburbs neighboring Indianapolis are changing their plans to start the school year during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a Marion County school district will have online-only learning upon reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board of the Pike Township school district in Marion County decided Thursday night to begin the school year virtually, with the potential to phase in in-person instruction after Labor Day if the coronavirus restrictions allow. The district said on its website that details will be sent out Friday.
The Center Grove district in northwest Johnson County announced Thursday it has changed its first day of school to Aug. 12. The first day with students in classrooms had been planned for Aug. 5. More than 1,250 of the district’s estimated 7,700 students chose the virtual option to return to school, which is causing the district to shift its scheduling and reallocate its staff.
“This change is necessary to provide our staff time to make these changes in addition to the implementation of the safety procedures and precautions in this Return to School 2020-21 plan. Center Grove will use waiver days, so no adjustments to school breaks or our school calendar will be necessary at this time,” the district said online.
In addition, the Westfield Washington district in Hamilton County had announced it would reopen Aug. 13 with in-school weekday classes and “a virtual e-learning option for students unable to return to school in person.”
However, on Thursday, Superintendent Sherry Grate sent a note that said in part, “WWS has revised the Return of the Rocks Plan and will be reopening all nine schools (K-12) under a hybrid plan, which will allow students to alternate in-person attendance throughout the school week. By splitting students into two groups, we are reducing the number of students in buildings and on buses, which allows for greater opportunity to social distance and meet health and safety guidelines. This hybrid plan will be in place until we are able to transition back to a regular school schedule or unless circumstances would cause us to change direction. We will be evaluating this plan on a monthly basis and will communicate any changes two weeks in advance unless we are forced to close immediately. Our first evaluation will be September 1.”
Westfield Washington has an estimated 8,100 students.