FRANKFORT — The Adena Local School District has announced that they plan on delaying their reopening to ensure the health and safety of students and staff.
While the district has already announced its plan for students' return to school, they are still waiting on some much-needed materials to enforce safety and promote sanitation. As a result, the opening of school has been delayed until Sept. 8. In the meantime, district administrators plan to observe other Ross County school districts as they reopen to make any last-minute adjustments.
"We still have the goal of getting our students back to school," said John Balzer, superintendent. "By waiting just a bit to see what happens we can gather useful information about how to manage the opening of Adena Schools in a safe and proactive manner that maintains the safety of our students, staff and the community at large."
Based on the updated reopening plan, elementary school students in first through fourth grade will return to in-person classes on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Those participating in Adena's online learning program will also begin work at this time.
Kindergartners have been split into two groups with Group A reporting on Sept. 10 and Group B reporting on Sept. 11. All kindergartens attend in person on Sept. 14.
For the middle school, students in fifth and seventh grade will attend school in person on Sept. 8 and 9. On Sept. 10 and 11, sixth and eighth-grade students will attend school. Then, on Sept. 14 all students will begin attending in-person school daily.
High school freshman and sophomores will also attend in person on Sept. 8 with juniors and seniors returning on Sept. 9. All students report on Sept. 10.
Balzer says the district primarily delayed its reopening as it awaits the delivery of two things.
The first is bottle filling stations. Most school districts have opted to close drinking fountains because there is a risk of infection from using them. But Adena is looking to obtain and install water fountains specifically for bottles so that students are not putting their mouths to the device. Balzer says this will make it much easier for students and their families so that they don't have to provide bottles of water. Instead, they can bring a reusable water bottle and fill it as needed.
Next, the district is still in the process of installing plexiglass barriers. These barriers are needed to maintain safety when social distancing is not possible. The district has already ordered these but because many school districts are looking to obtain them at the same time, it is taking longer than expected, according to Balzer.
As Adena waits, Balzer says the district plans to look at other school districts to see what happens when they begin to open. He says they are looking to see if there is an uptick in the spread of the coronavirus and what issues the schools are running into as they deal with the pandemic. From taking the time to wait, Balzer believes administrators will learn simply by observing.
Yet he believes the district is prepared and ready to deal with the challenges that will come with 2020.
Balzer says although the district has undergone significant reductions in funding due to the state's budget deficit, the wellbeing of students and staff remains a priority to the district. In recent years, the district has shifted from not only providing traditional education and extracurricular activities but also health care, mental health services, food assistance and links to other social services.
Although it's been stressful, Balzer says the treasurer and the board of education are working to keep the essential functions of the school system operating while maintaining the safety of all involved.
"We know this is going to be a hard year but we also know that if we as the Adena community work together, cooperate for the good of our children, and make the effort to maintain as much safety as we possibly can we will eventually emerge on the other side of this pandemic successful," he said.
Have a story tip or comment? Contact Toria at tbarnhart@gannett.com or 740-349-1106. Follow her on Twitter @ToriaBarnhart.
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