SUSD Plans Return to In-Person Learning

Young students returning to school was the focus of a meeting of the Governing Board of the Scottsdale Unified School District on Tuesday evening. The meeting focused on protocols that would make it safe to not only reopen schools before the end of September, but keep them open.

Superintendent Dr. Scott A. Menzel described a two-step process for Kindergarten through second grade.

Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) is using Enhanced Distance Learning to reach children in their homes. Enhanced Distance Learning (EDL) also runs a camp at five of the district schools to supervise K-8 children throughout the school day. It will remain open until the schools are reopened, according to the SUSD website.

After surveys about a return to in-person learning were sent to parents in the district, “anywhere from 60-90% of the EDL families that responded expressed a preference to return in person,” said Dr. Menzel.

“In our own experience, we have not had any spread of COVID in programs that we have operated with students this year,” Dr. Menzel said, referring in part to the EDL Camp.

Dr. Milissa Sackos, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education, spoke to the board about the personal protective equipment (PPE) that SUSD has provided its schools. She said 549 boxes of PPE went to school sites, including masks, antibacterial wipes, and hand sanitizer.

“Naturally, priority went to elementary schools,” said Dr. Sackos, referring to the initiative to open K-2 before middle and high schools.

“One of the things that I’ve heard from a number of places is that students are doing a fantastic job complying with mask wearing requirements,” Dr. Menzel said in the meeting. “That was one of the concerns people had as we return to our campuses and that does not seem to have been a problem.”

Masks have not been added to the dress code. The SUSD Code of Conduct reads that dress and grooming standards do not allow student dress or grooming that “presents a risk to the health, safety or general welfare of students, staff, or others.”

Because masks fall under the dress code category by default, the district is issuing disciplinary guidelines for not wearing a mask; the first being a verbal warning, the second being that repeat offenders will be disciplined by their school, and the last step is that “systematic non-compliance may result in school closure to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of all students and staff.”

“Teachers worked with students prior to the return practicing wearing masks at home,” Dr. Sackos said. “We have all been pleasantly surprised that the mask compliance with our students so far has been outstanding, even with some of our special education students that otherwise might pose a challenge.”

Other guidelines specify that students who are feeling unwell at school will wait to be picked up in designated quarantine rooms to prevent contact with other students and staff. School nurses have been training staff on safety protocols and what to do when students begin showing symptoms.

“We have appropriate PPE for all of our offices, our classrooms, our staff, extras for our students, so we are ready to go,” said Dr. Sackos.

Dennis Roehler, Director of Building Services, talked about the many ways the buildings have been prepared for the students’ return, including signs encouraging hand washing and social distancing throughout school buildings, hand sanitizing stations in hallways and classrooms, socially distanced desks and lunch tables, and hand washing stations that will be added to hallways in the near future.

Additionally, all bus drivers will be masked, and students will be required to wear a mask when riding the bus. At lunch, students will be eating and going to recess in the same group of two classes for the rest of the year in order to avoid contact with other classes. Anytime students remove their masks to eat or drink, they must be six feet apart, according to Roehler.

“Before our students even get out of bed, Mom and Dad need to be thinking about making sure that that student is okay to go to the school. One of the biggest things aside from masks and washing hands is not sending a sick student to school to begin with,” said Roehler.