Triad and Collinsville School Districts Release Plans For Next Phase Of In-Person Learning
By Stephanie Malench
smalench@timestribunenews.com
The Triad and Collinsville School districts announced their plans for moving forward into in person learning on Monday, October 19.
The Triad School District announced to parents via email that students in grades 7-12 will begin a trial of 5-day in person attendance beginning November 9 and ending November 24, provided community metrics remain stable with no significant increase in positive cases.
Full remote learners will be allowed to continue to learn remotely. Students in grades 7-12 will return to the hybrid A/B schedule beginning on November 30 with A-K going back on November 30 and L-Z on December 1. Full attendance from December on will be announced at a later date. In an email from Triad Middle School Principal Dr. Matt Noyes, “there have been no known issues with students of staff wearing masks at school; wellness checks are being completed and student sibling exclusions from school are understood; Madison County’s positivity rate has been going down from the beginning of the school year; Triad has no know cases of transmission within our classrooms or schools at all levels; and we have had zero students test positive who have been placed in quarantine due to close contact in our schools (The small number of positive cases in our schools have not been due to transmission within the classroom or school).”
The Collinsville School District announced during its regular board meeting on Monday that 550 remote only students will begin attending a hybrid schedule starting October 20, the start of the 2nd quarter. This will bring 550 students back into the buildings district wide according to their last name attending on the AB schedule.
The Return to Learn plan for Collinsville Unit 10 is being update based on current numbers in Collinsville and Maryville in relation to the rest of Madison County, taking into effect the size and diversity of Unit 10 compared to surrounding districts which might be moving at a faster pace. In his Superintendent’s report, Dr. Brad Skertich said that the number of positive youth cases per day in Madison County is 5-7 and the average in Collinsville and Maryville is 5-6. No positive students have transmitted COVID-19 to other students due to the rigid sanitation protocols, social distancing and masks.
The average number of quarantined students district wide has been stable at around 150. Students are quarantined if the 1) have a positive COVID-19 test, show symptoms consistent with COVID-19, or 3) have come in close contact with someone that tests positive for COVID-19.
A final decision on the following dates will be released at a special board meeting to be held after parent teacher conferences scheduled for October 30 and November 2.
If the numbers in Madison County remain stable, students in grades K-4 will return to school on Tuesday, November 16 on a Tuesday through Friday schedule. If in-person learning with this group of students is successful, students in grades 5-6 ( Dorris Intermediate School) will begin a Tuesday through Friday schedule at the end of November/ early December. Students in grades 7-12 will not return before at least the beginning of the 2nd semester.
