Hamilton County children will hopefully be back in school in August if the county’s plan comes to fruition. Superintendent Bryan Johnson held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, and he introduced the two men who will lead reopening efforts along with a Task Force.
LTC. William Brooks has experience when it comes to working with JRTOC programs across Hamilton County, and has been a senior army instructor and professor at Grambling State.
The other man in charge of reopening county schools is Keith Fogleman, whose credentials include being an HR consultant in both America and Japan, and leading recovery efforts in the aftermath of Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
LTC Brooks said, “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, and we’ve identified four areas of focus.
We’re going to mitigate risks for teachers and students who may have underlying health issues. One of the things we know is that the work ahead of us involves a lot of people.”
He said that the once schools reopen, one area of focus for Hamilton County will be taking into account which students do and do not have internet access at home. Superintendent Johnson echoed this sentiment.
“Reopening ours schools is about getting our students back into engaging and learning,” said LTC. Brooks. “We’re going to take into consideration who does and does not have internet. We’re going to take into account different learning styles.”
“One of the things we’ve learned over the last two months is how important our schools are to the community,” said Mr. Fogleman. “Our schools provide safety and stability, and we feed students and continue to do that. There’s lessons learned from this that we can utilize when reopening schools. It’s one key important thing, and that’s that we have effective health and safety measures as we move forward. Be sure that our community can trust us to support our students and staff.”
Dr. Johnson emphasized the fact that the plan laid out today is a rough one, and that it may be changed in the future. He said a priority is ensuring the supply chain “works” when it comes to getting masks and disinfectants to schools.
“We also need to be prepared to ensure what infrastructure needs we need to meet,” said the superintendent. “Over the last month, we’ve had discussions about our budget. We need to be prepared for any challenges that may face us as we reopen.”
Superintendent Johnson emphasized that there will be constant communication with parents during the process and before schools reopen.
“There will be several structured modalities in which parents can share information with us,” said the superintendent. “There will be a website set up. We were one of a few school districts in the country that will have technical support around us. There will be virtual focus groups and setting up some parent Zoom calls.”
Superintendent Johnson said that while opening in August is the main priority, being prepared for future setbacks or situations is also of the utmost importance. He said the county has a “soft target” for the end of June or early July for having a plan in place to reopen schools.
“That gives everybody, schools and parents, a month to wrap their head around what the implications of this are. But we are not beholden to that timeline. Like I’ve said, this is extremely fluid.”
“We need to prepare for not just August, but beyond,” he added.
Mr. Fogleman and Lt. Col. Brooks will work with staff, parents, students, business leaders, health professionals, and the community to formulate the plan for schools reopening and children once again learning in the classrooms.
Officials said, "Hamilton County Schools is committed to the health and safety of our students and staff as we seek to immerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and return to classrooms. This unprecedented time for our world has created many significant hurdles for our community. Just as businesses and organizations looking for the best way to resume operation, the school district will examine all processes and procedures as we seek to bring students back to school campuses in the fall. The district recognizes that our school reopening plans have a significant effect on our community. As the task force moves forward with their work, the district will provide regular updates to ensure staff, families, and the community are prepared for what the next school year may look like at our local schools."
There will be four main areas of focus as plans are developed for the reopening of schools. The Task Force will seek to minimize risks to public health, address impacts on student learning and well-being, recognize the importance of the local public school to the community, and they will seek to optimize operational readiness.