GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — A Guilford County Schools budget meeting opened up a conversation about what the 2020-2021 school year will look like.
Leaders said safety remains a number one priority as they determine how to move forward.
"We want families to have confidence we’re doing everything in our power to keep our staff and students safe," Superintendent Dr. Sharon Contreras said.
As students look forward to getting off their couches and back in the classroom next year, Dr. Contreras said we should plan for the possibility of at least some continued online learning.
"All of us should be expecting that districts and schooling will be blended in the future," she explained. "Blended meaning some virtual/remote learning and some face-to-face learning," she continued. "That means a priority has to be internet connectivity."
The district is also talking about putting a nurse in each school, and ramping up custodial staff.
"I've asked for some of the funding from the $93 million the County is receiving to support reentry," Dr. Contreras said.
Dr. Contreras said Guilford County Commissioners asked for a comprehensive proposal from the district on what funding they need, and where it would go.
"Some of the 93 million to support reentry includes technology, and it also includes a proposal for nursing staff or a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) in every school going forward at least for a year or 18 months," she stated.
Also, more custodial staff and cleaning supplies.
"So there are some things we are going to ask for outside of the budget but it will support reentry."
But here's the confusing part. As this is an unprecedented situation, the district is still working to figure out if the responsibility for this kind of pandemic funding is the state's, county's or individual districts.
"I’ve been reaching out to members of the State Board to try to get some clarity on which issue the state is taking up, what should the counties be taking up, and what should school district's be focusing on at this point."
Masks were also a talking point at the budget meeting.
"I have sent the board some articles about reentry around the world," Dr. Contreras explained. "You see children with masks on so we did the math and I think it would take 1.8 million masks a month for our students and staff."
Never mind the issue of funding, it would be hard to find a distributor to supply that many masks.
"So let's say we had the funding where would we get 1.8 million masks a month, or 18 million masks a year - does someone have the capacity to provide that to not just Guilford County but U.S. schools to make sure students are safe?" Dr. Contreras questioned.
Much of the discussions at the budget meeting were preliminary conversations, nothing is set in stone.
