NEW PALESTINE — New Palestine High School will immediately switch to virtual learning beginning today (Friday, Oct. 9), and the other schools in the Southern Hancock district will follow suit after the fall break.
The corporation’s director of school and community relations, Wes Anderson, said in an email sent late Thursday afternoon, Oct. 8, that the decision was recommended by the Hancock County Health Department in response to the current COVID-19 situation. Anderson said the district currently has five positive cases — not all in the same building — and the health department saw potential for community spread.
The district’s middle and elementary schools will have in-person school as normal today, the last day of school before a fall break that will last until Oct. 19. After that, the corporation will have at least one week of virtual learning from Oct. 19-23 at all schools.
As of now, in-person school is planned to resume Oct. 26.
Extracurricular activities will continue as normal for now, Anderson said, though that may be re-evaluated during fall break. New Palestine’s football team is not scheduled to host a home football game this week.
All students were told to take home devices to enable participation in online learning, and parents will receive information from the corporation about expectations for students who are learning from home.
Anderson said he believes students and teachers in the corporation are prepared for virtual learning, which was a major component of the district’s original plan for the 2020-21 school year. The daily schedule at the high school was changed to make virtual learning easier if it became necessary.
In June, the corporation issued its plan for returning to school, which included in-person and virtual options parents could choose. High school and middle school students attending virtually are assigned a daily schedule, and elementary school students check in via daily videoconference.
The plan also included details of how masks, social distancing and contact tracing would be utilized to limit the spread among in-person learners. Anderson said contact tracing at the schools has been going well.
Anderson said the ultimate decision about whether to return to in-person schooling will be up to the county health department, which will be monitoring the number of students who test positive for COVID-19.
“We’re going to follow what they tell us,” he said.