Updated 7-27-20 at 8:32 p.m.
CULLMAN, Ala. – Cullman County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shane Barnette on Monday announced that students choosing traditional instruction this school year will only be on campus four days per week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesdays, those students will attend school online.
“Our traditional kids will be coming face-to-face Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday,” said Barnette. “They will be doing an online assignment on Wednesday, which gives them a little bit of opportunity to see what the digital platform is like, in case we have to go into a remote setting. But it also gives all of our virtual students an opportunity to correspond with our teachers on Wednesday.”
About students whose families might not have access to the internet or childcare Wednesdays, Barnette said, “We are encouraging community groups and churches to hold day camps or such for these families. Students without internet access will be given assignments in which the internet isn’t required. Hopefully, doing this we will be better prepared if we are forced into a situation like we were back in March. We hope that doesn’t happen, but we want to be prepared just in case. If things improve fairly quickly we will transition back to five days a week ASAP.”
In an effort to control the spread of COVID-19, campuses throughout the system will be deep cleaned Wednesdays.
“It gives us an opportunity where we can clean, thoroughly,” Barnette said.
He said almost 12% of the system’s students are signed up to attend school virtually this fall.
“We’re putting a lot of plans in place, and we’re supposed to be getting even more guidance from the state health department about how we quarantine and how we handle positive cases in the schools,” he said. “They’re supposed to come out with that before school starts back, and we’ll follow all of their recommendations, of course. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure everybody stays safe.”
Barnette continued, “We’re going to do the best that we can to come back as much as we can face-to-face.”
Copyright 2020 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
