Start of school will look a bit different this year

    When the first day of classes start Aug. 19, it’s going to be different.
    Thanks to the lingering concerns with COVID-19 and the state/health district directives that go with them, Chase County Schools will have a different look and feel, at least for the start of the 2020-21 year.
    But, Supt. Adam Lambert said they will be ready, and he’s excited.
    “We’re excited to have kids back in the building,” he said, “and to get back to some kind of normalcy.”
    Flexibility from everyone, including the school’s leadership, will be important, he said, as CCS classes start with some new requirements due to COVID-19.
    “It all new for all of us, but the goal is keeping kids in school,” he said.
    CCS classes will start promptly at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19, with an early 1:30 p.m. dismissal. Regular dismissal is 3:30 p.m.
    Eight new teachers and professional personnel are starting their first year at CCS. They include Hannah Ash—Art grades 7-12, Sheri Clevenger—Language arts, 5th grade (1st semester only), Jeff Einspahr—Technology coordinator K-12, Krystle Gaswick—Physical education, half-time, grades 1-4, Kara Hagan—ELL/language arts, April Lambert—Curriculum and assessment coordinator/instructional coach K-12, Marissa McDaniel—STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), grades 7-8, Sonya Schilke—Language arts, 6th grade and Mikaela Stephenson—Language arts, grades 8-12. Watch future issues of this newspaper for individual stories on them.
Masks are a big one
    Lambert said he was expecting a shipment of 3,500 cloth masks to arrive Tuesday for students and staff.
    While the school is providing them, Lambert said parents can send their own masks with their children if they choose. However, they must follow the dress code, he said.
    Masks will be required in common spaces such as halls, busses, restrooms, etc.
    Once the student is seated in their classroom, they have the option to remove their mask, he said.
    In reality, Lambert said students will probably have the masks on 25-30 minutes of the school day.
    “Obviously, we’d like to get to no masks, but we also have to be prepared for masks all the time,” he said.
    School-issued masks will be handed in each day before going home, and new ones given the next day, he said.
    Two new sets of commercial washers/dryers have been purchased and placed at the school for washing the masks. They’ll also be used for washing the cloths used for disinfecting, said Dallas Baney, head of maintenance.
    When students, staff and visitors enter the school each day, their temperatures will be checked with thermal scanners, which take a reading in seconds.

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