Your questions on Ohio schools reopening answered
As part of a 21 News 6:40 Special the Superintendent of the Mahoning County Educational Service Center, Traci Hostetler, answered viewer questions on new guidelines released by the Ohio Department of Education on how schools should react and reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Do you think these new recommendations could change?
"It's in its initial stages and I expect it to change multiple times. The beauty of this is so many education professionals are working on these guidelines so we know we have covered all our bases."
How big of a challenge will it be to implement these guidelines for districts?
"It's going to be very difficult and will look different for different districts. Some districts, especially in larger areas, are talking reduced bus capacity and looping bussing, and rural areas just can't do that. The important thing to remember each district is going to have their own individual ways they can implement these guidelines. I know a lot of people aren't going to want to hear this but we really won't know for sure how this will roll out until we see how these next few months go."
What will parents do if they do not feel comfortable sending their students to school?
"That is where it comes down to the district and superintendents will hopefully have guidelines on how to approach that issue. It falls into more local control."
Can schools implement all these social distancing policies and sanitary policies and still be effective in educating students?
"No. Not how schools are currently set up. With bussing, you have sometimes three kids to a seat. Mass gatherings in the hallways, cafeterias, playgrounds and that's where a hybrid model would work to hope to reduce capacity in school buildings to educate these students with the new guidelines."
Are Saturday school days a possibility?
"It is always a possibility. Nothing right now is ideal."
What could happen with extracurricular activities?
"There is some discussion about that. But nothing to my knowledge has been official for fall and they are going to base their decisions based on how the summer goes."
