by John McLoone

In coming days, Ellsworth Community School District families will learn what the 2020-21 school year will look like.

The school board was briefed on what plans that have been presented to Pierce County Public Health look like and made some staff moves to be prepared for another school year that will see significant COVID-19 interference.

“There’s just a tremendous amount going on right now as we try to work through this,” said Superintendent Barry Cain.

He said the plan, however, is for a full five-day school week and busing. He told the board all but one of 29 area school districts are planning on a five-day school schedule.

The district presented its plan to reopen to Public Health last Thursday and plans to start unveiling aspects of the start of the school year as soon as it can. The board will also meet to review the situation Aug. 10, and that will be a live, in-person meeting, which marks a significant move away from the virtual platform.

“We’ve put in a lot of hours to develop the ways in which we’ll be operating as a school district,” Cain said. “A great deal of thought has gone into this.”

“Everything we’re doing is so fluid. The bottom line is things could change at any time,” he said.

Board member Gary Kressin questioned Cain on plans and how decisions are being made.

“It’s five days a week,” said Cain. “We’re looking at running normal bus routes and parents who are uncomfortable with that, we’re asking them to bring their children to school.”

Changes to the many Ellsworth bus routes aren’t really feasible.

“Running multiple more routes, the expense of that, we simply can’t do that,” Cain said.

“We’re doing everything we can to mitigate this, but our plan is to come back five days a week,” Cain told the board.

Just before press time this week, The Journal reached out to Cain for an update, and he said info will start pouring in to families from the district this week.

Cain responded: “As discussed at last week's board meeting, we have been working on plan specifics for bringing_ all students back five days a week while also giving families the option of a quality distance learning opportunity if they choose to not have children attend in person._We are working on a video to be out to the public later tomorrow (Wednesday) to provide the basics of this plan and to provide_the public with a number or specific considerations and protocols we are currently looking at to mitigate_COVID-19 in our school settings._Once the public sees the overall plan, the building level_administration will then be working to provide_families building specific information_over the coming days and weeks._At the same time, staff meetings are being held to provide information to staff while also gaining their input into the specifics of how our buildings will operate. The administrative team will also be providing the community and full board more specifics in early August._ “We need to emphasize that all plans are fluid and may change over the next month depending on_COVID-19 trends in our area and a number of other factors. We will be continually updating everyone on any changes and details of our plans while also listening to feedback.”

The district has had good response to its August summer school session, with more than 160 kids already signed up last week. Classes will be restricted to 15 students.

Can said that the Panther Kids Club started up at the start of July. “We’ve had good turnout,” he said.

The grab and go meal program will continue until July 31, and Cain said 400 meals are still being served. He said that the United Way has stepped in and helped out with a fruit and vegetable box program. Each week, 120 boxes of produce are given out to families.

“That’s a really neat thing,” said Cain.

Later in the meeting, the board approved hiring of two health aides for the middle and high school with a cost projected at $100,000. The aides will be tasked with being on the lookout for COVID-19 symptoms and working with families, the nurse and Public Health.

The district will also start to look for permanent substitute teachers with a project cost of $27,000 each. The district will need to have more subs if staff members become sick and can’t return to work. He noted the minimum amount of time for anyone with symptoms is three full days.

A part-time custodian was also approved at a cost of $15,000 to clean high-touch areas during the school day.

Job postings from the district appear on page 14 of this edition of The Journal.

Board gets a big thank you!

Mary Rumpel retired after 34 years as an Ellsworth teacher, and she appeared in the virtual meeting to say goodbye and thank you.

“Since we didn’t have the regular retirement dinner, I feel like I need some closure, and I need to say thank you to you guys,” she said. “Our school board is very supportive. You make our lives easier as teachers to do what we need to do.”

She credited the work of school district administration also.

“You’ve been great,” she said. “It was so easy to teach here. They did all the work on keeping the discipline and making sure the environment is safe and supportive.”

“I felt very lucky we were so family-oriented here in Ellsworth. It was a great place to work. I don’t think there are a lot of schools that have what we have in Ellsworth,” she said.

Cain and board members thanked her for her dedication to the district.