Carroll County School Superintendent Jim Ray says he’s grown tired of the phrase “uncharted waters,” but it’s an apt description of what his district faces as it prepares to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic.
Classes will start Aug. 6, with teachers scheduled to come in three days earlier — and they will have a lot to cover in those three days. The first-year teachers will be entering a difficult situation, and the returning ones haven’t been there as a group since March 9, Ray said.
“We’ve got to get all these employees back in, got to get them back going, got to get them retrained to a little different way of operation,” said Ray, who joined the district in January. “It’s not an easy task.”
The classrooms have been reconfigured to spread the desks out more. Each room will have a teacher’s desk, a filing cabinet and a shelf, said Coretta Green, principal of J.Z. George High School. She estimated they would be able to have 17 to 20 students per class.
“Anything unnecessary in the room that takes up room, we’re taking out to make more room for desks,” Ray said.
The superintendent said there have been a few changes in faculty, as usual, but no major overhauls.
The district will use money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for upgrades to the technological equipment, such as Chromebooks. Since many other districts have to purchase those items, too, Ray estimated that it would be at least November or December before they arrive — and it will take more time to incorporate them into the district’s work while dealing with the internet connectivity issues in parts of Carroll County.
Ray estimated about 35 students would be taking part in distance learning. “To go virtual is not an overnight process, for sure,” he said. “But it is something we’ll be working toward.”
The course offerings will be largely the same, and the focus will remain on instruction and improving test scores, Ray said.
The school will continue to team with Holmes Community College on a dual enrollment program that will enable juniors and seniors to earn college credit. Building-trade classes will still be held, although the students won’t be able to go to competitions.
Also, Marshall Elementary will collaborate with Head Start on a pre-kindergarten program for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Ray said they were looking into making some other additions in the upper grades, such as driver’s education and welding, but those will have to wait.
CARES Act money also will help purchase more health-related supplies such as masks, shields and hand sanitizer, as will funds from state and federal emergency management authorities.
Ray said they can take other measures to reduce crowding, including staggering the times of the class changes and offering “grab and go” lunches. The district will add touchless water fountains and have stations where students can refill the water bottles that they bring in.
Ray said the district has taken steps — which were in the works before the pandemic — to improve security at the schools. Both Marshall Elementary and J.Z. George will have lobbies for visitors, who will have to check in at windows at the offices.
All extracurricular activities will still be offered, with modifications for social distancing. Even members of the band will march 6 feet apart.
J.Z. George High School Principal Coretta Green says it’s been a challenge to make the adjustments needed to keep students safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
Green normally has monthly meetings to discuss academics, discipline and other matters, but she said she won’t be able to do that with the limits on group size. She said she may go to classrooms instead to keep everyone updated.
In general, students will just have to get used to socializing in smaller groups, and parents will have to adjust, too, Ray said. “I think our kids’ll be cooperative, and I think they’ll understand,” he said.
Ray said parents have been asking some good questions about the new rules, and the administrators have tried to answer them as well as they can with the knowledge they have.
He said he thought the faculty and staff performed well in a difficult situation in the spring: “We always say we can do better, but I think under the circumstances, we did about as well as we could do.”
Green said it was frustrating that the pandemic hit around the time when students were reviewing for state tests. She said she felt students who had been struggling in certain subjects could have benefited from the last round of preparation, but in the end, the tests were canceled.
“I just felt like we got them to that point, and then it was like a big letdown, and now we’ve got to start over,” she said. “I personally feel like it may have pushed us back a whole school year.”
Now students will have to gear up for testing again, she said.
“We’re going to have to reset goals, reassess ourselves, once school starts again and see how hard we need to work,” Green said.
• Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
