Oak Ridge Schools will re-open July 29 with in-person and online options.
The re-opening plan was announced Monday by Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers.
The July 29 re-opening date is part of the 2020-2021 district calendar.
The re-opening plan was announced as the number of total and active COVID-19 cases has surged in Anderson County. The county added 39 new cases between Thursday and Monday, pushing the total to 144, and the number of active cases about doubled from 32 on Thursday to 63 on Monday.
In a recent survey, conducted before the surge in cases during the past four days, most Oak Ridge families—85 percent of those who responded—said they want the school system to return to “some semblance of normalcy with students participating in face-to-face instruction,” Borchers said.
Those who responded to the survey said their highest priorities while trying to bring students back to school safely are 1) regularly disinfecting common areas, 2) practicing social distancing, 3) providing temperature checks, 4) reducing non-essential visitors in the school, and 5) wearing masks as needed.
“In response to your voices, and to help reduce ambiguity for you, we created this evolving plan to aid in a safe re-opening,” Borchers said.
The re-opening plan is outlined by Borchers below, and links are included to three documents.
Here the two options for students in the re-opening plan:
- Option 1 is to resume learning in person, with contingency plans for remote learning as emergency health conditions arise.
- Option 2 is a full year of virtual online learning. This program is called ConnectOR. Documents for enrolling in Option 2, ConnectOR, are linked below.
Here is the rest of the information from Borchers:
Reopening Plan 2020-2021
Click this link to read the full document:
Oak Ridge Schools Reopening Plan 2020-2021
We appreciate the tremendous participation and feedback you have given us for our safe re-opening survey. This plan is based in large part on that feedback, as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), state, county, and local government. This plan will be evolving regularly with changing guidance during our ongoing response to COVID-19. Regular updates will be made to this plan as we receive guidance from these agencies.
We learned from our survey that the majority (85 percent) of you want to see us return to some semblance of normalcy with students participating in face-to-face instruction. You also told us your highest priorities in bringing students back safely are, in order: 1) regularly disinfecting common areas, 2) practicing social distancing, 3) providing temperature checks, 4) reducing non-essential visitors in the school, and 5) wearing masks as needed.
In response to your voices, and to help reduce ambiguity for you, we created this evolving plan to aid in a safe re-opening. With this plan, we hope to address questions you may have regarding the ever-changing landscape of learning, health, and safety recommendations we receive. We will work together to implement, continuously evaluate, and update this plan. It is our ultimate desire to protect the well-being of our students, staff, and families in our community, as we carefully plan to re-open this fall.
To help mitigate the spread of the virus, we are also requesting that parents take their children’s temperature on a daily basis prior to allowing them to attend school. Students with a temperature of 100.4 or higher should remain at home. All updates to this plan will be sent to you by e-mail and posted on our COVID-19 web page: www.ortn.edu/information-regarding-coronavirus
Virtual Learning Option 2
We look forward to inviting students back to school very soon.
Dr. Bruce Borchers
Superintendent
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