Parents Asked To Take Reopening Survey For Cherokee Schools

CHEROKEE COUNTY, GA — During a school board meeting last week, Superintendent Brian Hightower updated the school board on the process to develop reopening plans, which began with the appointment of an advisory committee made up of Cherokee Schools educators, parents and partners.

Chief Operations Officer Debra Murdock, who is leading the committee, spoke briefly to the school board about its initial meeting. Chief Human Resources Officer Rick Beaulieu is leading a separate advisory committee made up entirely of district staff from different occupations within the organization.

Both groups will provide feedback to Hightower as he determines an official reopening plan, which he remains committed to announcing to the Cherokee County community in as timely a manner as possible in July.

As shared earlier this month with the school board, employees and parents, the district took a step toward “return to school” with “return to play,” by permitting small groups of student athletes to participate in limited conditioning activities on school campuses. Based on new guidance issued today by the Georgia High Schools Association, the number of athletes permitted on a campus at a time will double beginning next week.

Hightower also announced during the meeting that year-round district staff, who have worked remotely throughout the school and office closures, will return to their worksites starting Monday. All Cherokee County employees were notified last week of the plan, which is the first phase in returning all district staff to their worksites, with details to be announced as soon as possible for employees who typically would not work in June and/or most of July.

Additionally, he announced that his annual leadership symposium held in mid-July, which provides back-to-school updates and training for district leaders and school administrators, will be held virtually instead of in person.

During the meeting, Hightower also announced he will send a questionnaire to district parents next week asking whether they would prefer to send their children back to school in person on Aug. 3, or instead participate in online learning from home. The questionnaires will be connected to students by their student ID, and the data will be used to ensure resources are available for both options being considered by Hightower.

“We’re not asking parents to vote on a plan, as I will be making my decision based on what’s in the best interest of our students, the state of public health in our community, and any mandates issued by the state or federal government,” he said. “Parents’ input through this questionnaire is critically important to ensure we have the staff and resources in place to meet students’ needs.”

To complete this survey, you will need your child’s student ID and a special code linked to your child in order to complete it. A separate email was sent Monday, to the email address for your child’s primary parent/guardian contact, from NoReply@cherokee.k12.ga.us and will include your child’s student ID and the special code. Multiple attempts to use a code will invalidate all attempts. Complete this questionnaire by 5 p.m. Monday, June 29, as it will be closed to responses after that deadline.

Hightower sent a message Monday, saying:

Dear #CCSDfam,

Thank you for your continuing patience as we develop our plan for reopening schools. I know many of you are anxious to plan your work and childcare schedules. I remain committed to announcing our reopening plan in as timely a manner as possible in July, knowing the pandemic’s impact on our community, and guidance about protecting our students, will very likely continue to change over the next few weeks.

My decision will be one of three options:

1. Opening on Aug. 3 in-person, at-school instruction with additional, reasonable safety measures
2. Opening on Aug. 3 online with a more rigorous version of Digital Learning Days remote instruction
3. Opening on Aug. 3 with both options in place

Parents would choose one option for their child. Which of the three I decide upon will be based on public health conditions in our county and any mandates issued between now and then by the state or federal government and health officials.

My staff is hard at work preparing for these options. They are installing transparent plastic partitions in our front offices and cafeterias, supplying our classrooms with hand sanitizer, and scheduling additional custodians who will follow expanded practices for disinfection. They are rearranging large groupings of students, such as assemblies and large lunch periods, to reduce the volume of children together at a time. They are preparing guidance for teachers and staff to ensure more time for student hand-washing and other common-sense preventative measures.

Based on current guidance, students will be permitted, but not required, to wear masks while at school or riding the school bus.

At the same time, they are redesigning Digital Learning Days. If we implement distance learning, on its own or as an option with in-person school reopening, the workload and expectations would be significantly higher. Online class students would be assigned a daily workload comparable to their classmates attending classes in person at a school. Online class teachers would be online for the entirety of the regular school day, with at least one Microsoft Teams call for real-time instruction and dialogue every day. Assignments completed by online class students would be held to the same grading standards as if they were working in our classrooms.

In order to participate in online classes, should we make this option available, parents would be required to declare their intent by July 17 through an online process we will set up specifically for this purpose.

We have reached the point in this planning process when we need your direct assistance. Given the information provided to you today, we need to know which option you prefer for your child. The purpose of this poll is to give parents a chance to share a preference for your student(s). While your response isn’t a “vote,” it is important information that will help us ensure we have adequate resources allocated for all three plans. The decision you make today will not limit your decision to later change your mind, but we ask you to be as honest as possible.

The brief questionnaire we need you to please complete will be available online. You will need your child’s student ID and a special code linked to your child in order to complete it. A separate email will be sent today, to the email address for your child’s primary parent/guardian contact, from NoReply@cherokee.k12.ga.us and will include your child’s student ID and the special code.

Multiple attempts to use a code will invalidate all attempts. Please complete this questionnaire by 5 p.m. Monday, June 29, as it will be closed to responses after that deadline.

Thank you for your help,

Dr. Brian V. Hightower Superintendent of Schools

Barbara P. Jacoby Chief Communications Officer Cherokee County School District

Related: Cherokee Schools Weighing School Reopening Plan Options