North Pike officials think they may be back in school buildings on schedule in the fall, but what that will look like is far from certain.
“We’re hoping to get more guidance” from the Mississippi Department of Education, Superintendent Dennis Penton said. “We don’t know what the situation is going to be with COVID, we don’t have a lot of guidance about how to go back to school.”
Penton said he is creating a committee to help develop guidelines and procedures for bringing students back to the school buildings.
While MDE will need to make some concrete recommendations for school attendance in the fall, “there will be discretion in how we can start school and what that will look like,” Penton said. “We want to make the best decisions we can.”
Penton said the committee would include representatives of the school board, district administration and others, including at least one health care professional.
“We want what we put in place to support our students’, staff’s and community’s health,” he said. “We’ll think outside the box and look at every angle.”
Even though the district is making plans to reopen in August, Penton said developments between now and then could delay or prevent that from happening.
“We can make a plan to reopen, and the week before school, things could change,” he said. “We get emails from MDE daily about (COVID-19 response). A lot of what they tell us changes weekly.”
The school calendar North Pike adopted in the spring for the next school year has teacher inservice starting on Aug. 3, with students slated to return on Aug. 6.
