By WHITNEE ICE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph School District gears up for yet another year of school amidst pandemic.
Superintendent Doug Van Zyl says this school year will look very similar to last year’s.
“Many of the same practices are going to be in place as far as cleaning and trying to keep students as separated as we can even though of course the distance is a little bit different,” Van Zyl tells St. Joseph Post. “Masking will be one of the things that we’ll probably continue to have to monitor and take a look at. Currently we are mask optional, but that's something that will probably get decided closer to the start of school, to be finalized.”
Van Zyl says the school district will still provide a virtual learning option.
“All of our schools have the face-to-face option as well but families had the choice to be able to sign up to be online or virtual if they chose to,” says Van Zyl.
Van Zyl says he hopes people will weight their options and decide what they want to do.
“That’s what’s really going to help us, is just people making the decisions to make good choices in regard to their health and what they think is the right thing to do not only for them but for those around them,” says Van Zyl.
Van Zyl says remote learning is still an option for the school district if and when it might be necessary.
“I hope and pray that we don’t get to the point where we have to go back to where we were over a year and a half ago back when COVID first kind of came on and everything got shut down that wouldn’t be something that I think any of us would want but I do think there’s a possibility for some remote adjustments throughout the year if cases continue to rise,” says Van Zyl.
All schools in the St. Joseph School District will start on August 23rd.