As part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Smart Start plan approved by the Board of Education for the launch of the 2020-21 school year, parents will have several options with how their children will be educated. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the closure of school buildings to students in March, but the current plan calls for school buildings to fully open on August 24.
Returning to the traditional classroom is not the sole route parents can take. KPBSD schools will also continue their respective distance learning programs for families who have concerns about a return to the classroom setting. Parents will have a third viable option to choose from: the Connections Homeschool program.
Pegge Erkeneff of the KPBSD offered details to KSRM News on Friday: “So, we’ve designed the plan with choice for parents so that it can be flexible and it can meet families’ needs. That is why there will be three choices for parents. One is in the neighborhood school, or the local school that’s close-by to them where their children are enrolled, so in-person learning. Second, remote learning through that school. Third, the Connections Homeschool program that we have throughout the Kenai peninsula.”
She also said that parents looking to utilize home schooling should be confident in Connections Homeschool: “That’s a great home school program. It also keeps all of the educational funding coming to the school district. It keeps it local on the peninsula. It keeps locals employed, and it offers options for our youth.”
For students returning to schools, will the fewer amount of students cause a change to school bus routes? Ms. Erkeneff says no, and also points out a big advantage of having fewer students on the bus: “Having these options helps us do some more physical distancing on the buses. So, there will not be less bus routes. The bus routes are set. We’ll be transporting our youth. If we know that it’s not a stop that’s needed, the route might get slightly adjusted because we know that those parents in the area have chosen remote learning, but we have our transportation set up and one of our biggest concerns was ‘How do we do physical distancing when a bus is full?’ So, we also think that if some of the families choose to do remote learning, that will provide a little more spacing on the buses. We have no plans to drop busing.”
The district reminds parents that if the COVID risk level rises to the highest level (which is the red level), schools may once again impose limitations on students entering school buildings. Throughout the school year, the district’s plan will continue to be evaluated and revised as medical information, science, and the pandemic situation evolves.