Norton Families and Stakeholders - I hope this communication finds all of you well and enjoying summer!
The health challenges that we saw subside near the end of the school year have not quite fully evaporated, so school districts' decisions regarding pandemic prevention continue. The material included in this email is in concern of those exact plans.
Attached here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z9K25GOTEKHDItqH7jtlKN5ztW-OGn2Q/view?usp=sharing is a video explaining some opening of school thoughts.
Attached here: Norton City Schools Back to School Community Message.pdf is a document that highlights some of our early ideas and thoughts in regards to our August opening.
- If you have difficulty opening either the video or PDF, they will be posted to our district website as well.
We are able to make some promises to all of you, and that includes consistent and thorough communication, hard work on our end in the decision-making process, and a full effort to provide our students with an incredible school year. All of us want to "get back" to what we know school can and should be. Our focus is on providing that for our students and this school community.
You will read that the school district is planning on an opening that includes optional/permitted masking as well as a full return to in-person learning in all of our buildings. We are communicating this to you in late July and fully hoping that this is still in place when the students return on August 19. You will also see that as of July 15, a mandate is in place that requires masking during transportation, and that includes school busses. We are working through that with legal, and if that changes we will certainly notify all of you.
This pandemic has produced varied opinions on what should happen in schools, and all districts respect the reality that stakeholders' beliefs can sometimes be different. That being said, it is important that all of you know that all school districts operate through collaboration with many outside organizations. The Highway Patrol inspects our busses and deems them to be safe before we take them on the road. The Ohio Department of Education presents teaching standards to our educators which must be followed. The Health Department and the State of Ohio Administrative Services inspects our cafeterias for cleanliness and presentation, so that we know our students are eating in a clean and healthy environment. School districts are not equipped to tell the Highway Patrol, the ODE, or the Ohio Administrative Services that we refuse to abide by their mandates. When the Highway Patrol tells a district that a school bus must be repaired before placing children onto the bus, that bus is repaired. It is the same concept that is in place with our Health Departments at the local and state level. While there is a stark difference between a mandate and a recommendation or guideline, districts do not dismiss the information from these valued partners. That relationship will continue.
The week ahead looks like great summer weather, so we hope all of you continue to enjoy the days prior to school beginning. Thank you for reading this, and thank you for looking at future information regarding the district and/or your school principals regarding the opening of the 2021-22 school year.
Until then, take care of yourselves and Go Panthers!
Mr. Dana Addis, Superintendent