First Idaho public school will reopen Monday. It has nine days until summer break.
A public charter school in Fruitland will become Idaho’s first public school to reopen since the coronavirus pandemic closed schools across the state seven weeks ago.
Treasure Valley Classical Academy plans to reopen for in-person classes Monday after receiving approval from Southwest District Health. It has nine school days left before summer break starts.
“I think it is a moral obligation to try, because it fuels the human passion and spirit to do things that are good for human development,” Treasure Valley Classical Academy President Steve Lambert said. “We ought to be trying hard and then having it turned off, rather than just back away.”
The charter school hosts 294 students between kindergarten and sixth grade. It is in Payette County, which had confirmed community spread of the coronavirus, 14 positive cases and two deaths as of Monday afternoon.
Lambert said his school developed a plan with Southwest District Health to ensure it can reopen safely, working through several versions before settling on the final one.
Every family that wants to send their children back to school must answer a medical questionnaire to determine risk factors. All students then must pass an oral temperature check Friday at the school. Students who pass will receive and wear a colored bracelet to school.
Families can opt out of in-person classes and continue online or distance learning without penalty.
Starting Monday, the school will resume bus routes to bring students to school. Once there, teachers will ensure students maintain spacing in the hallway. And the school will place desks in a checkerboard pattern to increase distancing.
“We’re going to spread them out as much as we can,” Lambert said. “Whether or not it’ll be precisely 6 feet, more or less, between each one, I don’t know.
“I know that’s the number in public lore right now. I don’t know if it stands for anything scientific.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends school desks are “at least 6 feet apart.” And Gov. Brad Little’s phased plan to reopen Idaho recommends physical distancing of at least 6 feet for all individuals through every phase.
The school’s cafeteria will remain open for lunch. The school’s plan said it will provide more tables and allow up to nine students per table, as opposed to the previous normal of 16.
Hand sanitizer will be installed in every classroom and hallway, students are not required to wear masks and they can’t use the playground equipment until further notice.
Lambert said the school averages between 18 and 27 students per class. He didn’t have an estimate for how many will return Monday, but a decrease would provide more space for each student.
He added his school has one advantage: A student body used to orderly movement through the building and following high standards.
“Our hallways are not massive, loud, social melees of students walking around when our students move from class to class,” Lambert said. “They move quietly in lines, one after the other.
“They’ve already internalized this. They walk on opposite ends of the hallways. They’re quiet. Doors are held. It’s just a different environment. … So modifying that even further to increase the spaces and do things to accommodate for this pandemic is not going to be a major stretch.”
HOW CAN SCHOOLS REOPEN?
Treasure Valley Classical Academy plans to reopen as Idaho moves to stage two of Little’s reopening plan. That could start as early as Saturday if the state doesn’t see an increase in positive coronavirus cases. Lambert said he would re-evaluate if Idaho does not advance to stage two.
Stage two allows for public or private gatherings of fewer than 10 people, which Treasure Valley Classical Academy would likely surpass. But Little’s Idaho Rebounds plan makes no mention of schools.
The State Board of Education approved new criteria to reopen schools last week that refer back to the Idaho Rebounds plans. One board member, Andrew Scoggin, said during the meeting that he understood no schools could reopen this academic year based on the gatherings guideline.
Treasure Valley Classical Academy and a handful of private schools proved that wrong. Private schools aren’t subject to State Board rules. But they must receive approval to reopen from their local health districts, which use the guidelines set by the State Board.
Southwest District Health has approved plans to resume in-person classes at the Treasure Valley Classical Academy, Nampa Christian, St. Paul’s Catholic School in Nampa and the Elevate Academy, a year-round public charter school in Caldwell.
The Elevate Academy aims to restart June 1, Idaho Ed News reported.
Two private schools in Post Falls, St. Dominic’s and the Immaculate Conception Academy, also received approval to reopen from the Panhandle Health District.
While the vast majority of schools in Idaho remain closed, Lambert pointed out Treasure Valley Classical Academy cleared all the required barriers and it will continue to work with its health district on best practices.
“We will be talking to (Southwest District Health) daily,” Lambert said. “And if they want to adjust our strategy, obviously, we’re going to coordinate with them.”
