Back to school?

With July 1 having been the first major deadline for Iowa school district’s individual return to learn plans, the Creston Community School District intends to start the academic year on the originally scheduled date in whatever format that may have to take.

“We plan to start school on Aug. 24, as determined by our calendar approved by the school board back in March,” said CCSD Superintendent Deron Stender. “We intend to follow that calendar. What school will look like will really depend on what’s happening in the weeks leading up to the start of school.”

Districts were required to submit assurances to the state in regard to their plans for providing education despite the continuance of the COVID-19 pandemic, with these assurances detailing what steps they have currently taken, what steps they intend to take and who has been involved in the plan making process.

“Basically, we submitted to the state our assurances that we are going to be able to provide instruction on the scheduled date the students are to return, or to start receiving their education in whatever setting,” said Stender.

Previously the district had parents answer surveys created by the Iowa Department of Education. The data for these surveys is mainly for the state to utilize as a whole.

“Those were not district surveys, those were made by the state,” said Stender. “They didn’t require us, it was just highly recommended ... we will get some into the data in regards to the food and those kind of needs.”

The purpose for issuing the survey was to gather an idea of what services individual districts were able to provide throughout the pandemic and what districts may be in need of.

“The state is using that information to determine what kind of access to technology our families across the state of Iowa have,” said Stender. “They are trying to get a feel of what they need to do to support the school districts.”

Stender said CCSD’s goal is to provide school in a traditional setting, but they are prepared to do distance learning if needed. However, even with a traditional classroom format, Stender said the model is more of a hybrid model than anything.

“We know we are going to have families where (returning to school) is not an option for them,” said Stender. “So we are going to support them. That’s why it’s kind of a hybrid model, where some kids may be at school, and those who can’t be here, we will still educate them in a distance learning model. They’ll be supported as if they were in school.”

The plans have been devised by a group of individuals involved in the district that meet on a regular basis, either as a whole or as individual teams with specific responsibilities and tasks.

“We have a team that has been meeting ... it’s growing a bit, every time we meet, of 25 people that represent parents from our community, teachers from each of the buildings, students, directors, all departments and administration... we have got a very diverse group,” said Stender.”(They meet) to try to develop the best plan for our community that meets the needs of our students and our staff.”

Stender said the district will roll out the overall plan to families in the second half of July, with administration intending to do public forums over Facebook in the hopes of gathering the public opinion. To keep up to date with any changes, go to www.crestonschools.org.