KANSAS CITY, Mo. — School could look a lot different in the fall.
Missouri educational leaders are suggesting some radical changes to keep kids safe at school.
The Missouri School Boards’ Association released their recommendations Monday, and it’ll be up to each school board to decide if they want to apply any of these ideas to the upcoming school year.
But with the coronavirus not expected to go away any time soon, kids should expect some major changes when they head back to the classroom in the fall.
Some of the suggestions are minor – such as making sure the desks in every classroom is six feet apart, that kids don‘t share school supplies, and that they stay with their classmates and not mix with other classes just in case a student does come down with COVID-19, it’ll be easier to trace.
They also suggest having hallways be one way to avoid students running into each other, reducing class sizes for choir, band and PE, as well as not letting parents visit their kids at school.
If a child or teacher has any symptom of the coronavirus such as a fever, chills, a sore throat or headache, they recommend that person stay home and possibly even self quarantine.
In fact, if that student has siblings, they recommend the siblings also be forced to stay home for two weeks.
And they are recommending more virtual learning as not every child will feel comfortable going back to school.
The Missouri School Boards’ Association is proposing some major changes to the way school operate, including having different grades go to school on different days to reduce the number of kids inside a school at one time, or maybe having half the grades go in the morning and the other half go in the afternoon.
They suggest possible year-round schooling to ensure kids get enough class room time with split schedules, or maybe that combination of in-school and virtual schooling.
They are also suggesting eliminating school assemblies and library time as well as canceling all after school activities, which would include sports, performances and playing on the playgrounds.
These are just suggestions.
MO Board of Education will meet Tuesday to talk about this proposal and what they might suggest going forward.
