Board approves Bentonville school opening plan report

BENTONVILLE -- The School Board unanimously approved the opening plan report for schools Tuesday at a special meeting.

The board voted 7-0 in favor of the report, which was presented by Debbie Jones, district superintendent.

"We have a very comprehensive plan," Jones said. "If there's something we haven't covered, I do not know what that is."

The plan was developed by the Reopening Schools Task Force, the members of which were announced by Jones in May. The group includes doctors, mental health practitioners, business leaders, teachers, food service professionals, a parent, a principal and district leadership.

"It was very much a community effort," Jones said.

The task force seeks to open schools as safely as possible during the covid-19 pandemic, she said.

"We're not saying it's perfect. We are not saying we're removing every single risk," Jones said. "We're talking about everything we're doing to mitigate the risk within the schools."

The plan includes information on items such as wearing masks, school sanitation, daily health screenings and handling staff or student covid-19 illnesses, said Eric White, board president.

Schools will surpass Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleaning specifications for daily cleaning and sanitizing routines, Jones said.

All students in kindergarten through the 12th grade and staff will be required to wear masks covering their noses and mouths while attending school or a school function in any school building, district facility, other area of a school campus or the district's grounds, as well as when riding in school-provided transportation, according to the plan.

Students and staff may remove masks under some circumstances, according to the plan, such as when eating, when social distancing practices are put into place by staff and when student instruction and athletic activities warrant doing so.

Parents are expected to screen their children in accordance with Arkansas Department of Health guidelines daily before allowing students to enter any school bus or building, according to the plan. Staff will likewise be required to record their written responses to daily health screenings prior to accessing district transportation or facilities.

White said it's imperative parents take personal responsibility for screening their children and keeping them home if they're ill.

"Over the years, we've all kind of learned to tough it out with sickness," he said. "We just have to be more sensitive in today's environment."

Jones asked for families and staff to remain patient and flexible in the days ahead as more direction is received on implementing school during the pandemic.

"We're expecting any day for guidance to come out about all the fine arts programs -- band, music, orchestra -- and I don't know what that holds," she said. "This is not the year to insist on black and white schedules. We just have to go with the flow."

White said the district received expert guidance from the task force, but no expert can help the district fully prepare for what to anticipate next school year during the pandemic.

"No one really has a playbook for exactly how things are going to go," he said.

Bentonville's schools enroll nearly 18,000 students. The coronavirus pandemic led the state to close all public schools to in-person instruction in mid-March.

The district is offering students the choice of a traditional or a virtual school model because of the pandemic, White said. About 25% of Bentonville's students will be attending school online in the fall.