By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Monday was the first day of school for over 11,000 students across the St. Joseph school district.
School is officially in session for the 2021-22 school year - a second year operating under COVID-19 protocols.
Even so, district superintendent Doug Van Zyl expressed optimism on the first day of a new year.
"There's excitement for staff, our students and our faculty to get the year kicked back off," Van Zyl said. "But, I'm sure there's still some apprehension, because it's a little bit different again this year with masks and other things taking place. But, it's not new. So, hopefully people understand that and we'll continue to have a great year, and day one kind of sets the tone for that."
The St. Joseph school board voted 5-1 earlier this month in favor of reinstating an indoor mask mandate for St. Joseph school staff, students and visitors.
Van Zyl says this policy will be reviewed on a monthly basis at least.
"So, we'll continue to monitor the information and what takes place in our community," he said. "St. Joseph is not the same as other communities, and the vaccination rates are different, so we'll have to take all of that into account."
In an online survey, over 50 percent of St. Joseph school district parents, students and staff were in favor of reinstating masks as the delta variant spreads rapidly across the state and region.
Van Zyl says that data was looked at carefully by the board as they decided what to do for this school year. He also says the mask mandate, while unpopular for many, gives the district its best chance of maintaining in-person learning throughout the entire academic year.
"I think that's what the board tried to take a look at when they made the decision in regard to masks," Van Zyl said. "It's really about the quarantining. It's not necessarily about the masks and the vaccinations themselves, but knowing that those are barriers and layers that can help us keep kids in school so that we can educate them."
Besides keeping schools open all year long, Van Zyl says his second primary goal continues to be community engagement and finding ways to meet the need of the district's families.
"I think there will be conversations about how we continue to engage the community about, 'What do you really want from your school district?'" Van Zyl said. "How do you want us to be able to move forward? What do you want for your kids, the community as a whole? I think those are a couple of big ticket items that are going to be a focus for us this year."
One way the district is trying to make life easier for families in the district is the use of a new mobile app called Stopfinder - a new way for students and their families to track their school bus and know when to expect delays.
"That way families have the opportunity to see where the bus is at and give them a better idea," said Van Zyl, "so they're not standing outside for 10, 15 or 20 minutes. They can get there on time and hopefully know when their kids are going to be picked up and dropped off."
The school district is undergoing some other changes. SJSD is preparing to move its main office from 925 Felix Street to the former Noyes Elementary building.
In addition, Benton, Lafayette and Central High School, along with Hilllyard Technical School, now have partial air conditioning for the first time.
The high school's gyms and auditoriums all have air conditioning - part of an $11.37 million project funded by COVID relief dollars. Other parts of the project include improving plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems in the school buildings district-wide.
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