Triad High, Middle Schools Back On Five-Day Schedule

By Charlie Feldman

cfeldman@timestribunenews.com

For the second time this academic year, Triad middle and high school students are attending classes in person five days a week. This and other developments were discussed when the Triad School Board met on Monday, March 22.

Although a few high school students switched from in-person to remote classes, a larger percentage switched from remote to in-person learning, according to a report submitted at the meeting by principal Rodney Winslow. “As we move away from the hybrid schedule, It is imperative that students make in-person attendance a priority and not stay home merely for the convenience of being able to attend remotely,” he wrote.

To manage this, Google Meets will only be available for students who are experiencing symptoms, quarantined, COVID-19 positive, or designated as full-time remote learners, he said.

“If students attend a Google Meet and are not designated in the groups stated above, they will be removed from the Google Meet in the teacher’s classroom,” he wrote in his report. Then they will be asked to follow the normal make-up procedures for missed work upon their return.

Superintendent Leigh Lewis said the school has begun making plans for the Class of 2021 graduation ceremony, to be held on Sunday, May 23.

“Having an in-person graduation ceremony is a priority,” Lewis said. “The goal will be to maintain a traditional ceremony. However, there will be some changes that students and parents can expect – where it will be held, who can attend and what safety protocols will be mandated. Please be patient and flexible as changes will likely occur throughout the planning process.”

The board passed a resolution to transfer $650,000 currently in the working cash fund to the operations and maintenance fund. This is less than the board had anticipated. The working cash fund was set up to enable the school district to have sufficient money in its treasury at all times to meet the demands for ordinary and necessary expenditures for corporate purposes. The need to eventually do this was indicated when the district did the budget review at the beginning of the year.

Kenneth Fagan was named school district treasurer.

Triad will be getting three pre-owned school buses, thanks to a purchase/lease agreement with Santander Bank approved by the board. These are almost identical to the ones they received at the start of the school year at a fraction of the cost.

These 2019 gas buses were returned to the company when another facility was unable to use them. The company let the district know that they were available. Their average mileage is 15,000. The cost is $87,685 per bus with more than five years of warranty still on the vehicles, as opposed to $109,213 per brand new bus.

The next school board meeting will be held on Monday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the district’s central offices.