What will Weiser schools look like in the fall? That depends...

I know that families who have school age children are wondering what school will look like in the fall. The most honest response I can provide right now is, “That depends...”
 COVID-19 has had an incredible impact on our world in the last six months.  The virus has created conditions that our society cannot ignore and that requires us to continue to be highly attentive and responsive to extremely volatile conditions.  
 It has forced us to create and accept new patterns of behavior for the safety of our communities and out of respect for others.
 Obviously, the Weiser School District’s educational system is designed to offer a traditional, onsite, face-to-face learning environment for students, and our hope is to be able to reopen our schools in a traditional manner this fall.  
 However, that is entirely dependent upon conditions that exist within our community, Idaho, and our nation.  The safety of our students, staff, and community remains our priority.
 That said, we are working to develop plans for our district that consider three different scenarios for educating students in the upcoming year:
 1) A traditional school delivery model that includes measures intended to improve daily sanitation within each school and that reduces, as appropriate, close contact between individuals within our buildings whenever possible,
 2) A blended model of education that may include a combination of remote and onsite learning for students and that will reduce the number of people who are physically inside our buildings on a daily basis, and
 3) A fully remote model of education as we were forced to deliver to students during the fourth quarter last spring. The model and methods that we use could change throughout the year based on changing conditions within our community.
 Although the State Board of Education mandated the closure of all public schools last spring, current information from the Governor’s Office and the State Board indicate that both entities favor local control next fall as it pertains to the reopening and the continued operation of schools throughout the year.  They support local decisions based on local conditions.
 We plan to survey parents in the coming days in order to receive feedback on their thoughts, needs, and ideas as they pertain to educating children in Weiser as we look to reopen schools in August. 
 In an effort to return to onsite learning in the district this summer, we held a very successful two week summer school experience in early June for about 15 students whose families qualify for migrant status.  
 The theme of the session was Early Inhabitants of Idaho. We began a shortened version of our annual alternative summer school for middle school and high school students on June 29. And, at this time we plan to hold our annual Summer STEM Camp for elementary students the first week of August.  
 In each case we were required to have a COVID Safety and Sanitation Plan developed and then approved by our local Board of Trustees as well as the Southwest District Health Department prior to beginning the session.  
 Additionally, our high school athletes have been provided opportunities to participate in limited activities this summer as outlined in an agreement between all SRV schools that outlined gradual increases in workout opportunities for athletes based on the phase of reopening that the state has been in as identified in the governor’s Idaho Rebounds plan. 
 We will publish more information as it becomes available.