By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.—At a lengthy emergency meeting Tuesday morning, the Henry County Schools board of education voted unanimously to delay the opening of the 2020-2021 school year until August 31.
The vote followed much discussion among Director of Schools Dr. Leah Watkins, board members and community members in the audience, which included two county commissioners, Kreg Kyle and Marty Visser.
The county district (and Paris Special Schools) had been slated to begin August 3, but a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in Henry County over the past week prompted the board to call today’s emergency meeting. The Paris Special Schools board will meet in special session on Wednesday to discuss the opening for the PSSD district.
Dr. Watkins said the increase in cases has transitioned the county school district into the orange, or moderate spread, phase, which puts more precautions in place for students, including remote learning for students. Before the increases over the past week, the district had been ready to open in the yellow, or low spread, phase.
“This is unprecedented for all of us and we need to make decisions in the best interests of everyone,” Dr. Watkins said.
She said parents need to be able to plan “and we need to be mindful that we should give them as much notice as possible. We do know the parents and community depends on us to make these decisions.”
Dr. Watkins said, “There are enough cases (of COVID-19) in the county right now that I’m concerned for our children. I don’t feel good about bringing our youngest kids in to the schools, even in small groups.” She noted the possibility that school children could transmit the virus to their grandparents, parents and other family members.
“I feel for our parents. Our kids need normal right now. But we’re on a trajectory that surprises us. I don’t see us declining in one week, two weeks. I don’t even know if we’ll see declines in a month. That’s what makes this so hard. Nobody knows what these numbers will do,” Dr. Watkins said.
Board members discussed different options, from delaying one week or two weeks or using stockpiled days during the school year. Board President Jill Coker said, “I think we’re all agreed there are no good answers.”
Board Member Josh Frey said he was not in favor of starting the school year virtually. “I don’t think kids learn the same that way and it places a burden on families. I don’t think a delay of two weeks is going to help us.”
Dr. Watkins said she has the same concerns as everyone does about not all children having internet access and both parents working and not able to help school the children. “There are options where some kids without internet access or in families where both parents work can come to campus for instruction,” she said.
“We just don’t know what will happen. We’ve all seen in the last week how fast things can change,” she said. “In just five days, our status as a community changed drastically.”
The next regular meeting of the board will be August 13.