GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — In an electronic meeting Tuesday night, Greeneville City Schools Board of Education announced the 2020-2021 back-to-school plans.
The board announced that grades one through 12 will begin the school year fully online, with pre-K and kindergarten students having classes similar to that of a block schedule model — staggering attendance on certain days — with the option of instead having virtual classes.
This decision came an hour after Gov. Bill Lee revealed the state’s recommendations for reopening classrooms.
The school system’s abbreviated first day of classes will be August 5, with the first full day on August 7.
This reopening model will continue through August 21, with the potential to change on August 24, according to Greeneville City Schools Superintendent Steve Starnes.
“Once we get back into learning mode, we want to make sure we’re not flipping back and forth every other day,” said Superintendent Starnes. “Once we choose a model, we would commit to that for the Monday after the 15th calendar day before we would make a change back into another mode.”
Starnes told News Channel 11 that the school system works with local and regional health officials in determining any potential change to the reopening plans.
“One of the metrics we use is the average rate of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 county residents over the last 14 days,” said Starnes.
Because the school system will use data based on 14-day periods, the board voted to allow Starnes to amend the school calendar as the year progresses without board of education meetings.
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