The Colleton County School board met Tuesday evening March 17 to receive updated reports on the district’s preparation for Corvid-19.
Interim Superintendent John Tindal opened the meeting by first thanking Colleton residents, district personnel, parents and students for welcoming him to the county.
“I appreciate the welcome I have had here. I feel that I am a good match for the community and I look forward to being here and serving for as long as you deem it necessary,” said Tindal. “And I can’t say enough about my administrative assistant Christine Stroble for her support and help in becoming better acquainted to the district.”
He went on to remark that his arrival to district has been rather unusual with the coming of Corvid-19, but the staff has been up to the challenge.
“Everyone has done a remarkable job of preparing and adjusting to this new trial. Since Governor McMaster’s closing of the schools, our staff has been very, very busy preparing to help our students to continue learning at home. I thank the teachers and the curriculum department for their efforts in that area. We also have a commitment to ensure that our students are not hungry. We want to make sure that our children who are usually served breakfast and lunch will have that service continued. I commend Ellen Fitch and the food services department for everything they have done. I am also gratified by the work of the facilities department for their cleaning and sanitizing the schools.”
Tindal called on Gary Bradley to comment on the transportation department’s work in preparing to distribute food to students.
Bradley thanked his department for their initiative in working together to distribute food to children. “They have worked hard to consolidate routes to make sure that our students are fed during this difficult time,” said Bradley.
Beginning March 18, food distribution started to bus stops by using buses. Students can go to their respective bus stops at a designated time and pick up their food. Bradley cautioned that parents needed to give them a 20-minute window for delays in bus arrivals, due to the time involved in distributing food.
“I am grateful for the 40 bus drivers who came and made themselves available to us for food deliveries. We began today [Tuesday] by delivering food to every school. We had two bus drivers and a food service employee on every bus. We consolidated our routes from 65 to 28. We did not feel that it was a good idea to find a central location in each community to have food picked up, because we were concerned that students would have to walk several miles to get their food. This was dangerous, so we decided to deliver to bus stops. It was safer,” said Bradley.
Food is loaded on buses at the Middle School at 9 a.m. and routes are finished by 11 a.m. “This is new ground for us,” said Bradley. “But I am very proud of our folks; 40 drivers and 11 monitors have stepped up to serve the children of our community. They are outstanding.”
Superintendent Tindal followed up Bradley’s update by saying that he planned to ride one of the buses and witness the food distribution. “Riding on school buses periodically in my districts is not new to me, but riding to distribute food will be new. I want to do this to have first hand knowledge of the process,” said Tindal.
Student Nutrition Director Ellen Fitch next informed the board about the progress being made in student breakfast and lunch distribution.
“We are feeding all students under the age of 18. I contacted my entire staff and had a meeting. I had 50 workers who were able to help prepare food. We prepared 1,128 meals at all of the schools for parents to pick up. For the bus delivery, we plan on having 3,600 breakfasts and lunches ready to go every day. We also have food available for car riders.”
DISTANCE LEARNING
Assistant Superintendent Jessica Williams spoke about the learning packets made available to students while schools are closed.
“We wanted to make certain that learning continued while students are not in school,” said Williams. “We are not introducing new material in these packets to the students. The material is for enrichment and practice of what they have already learned, and it follows the state standards. All schools have distributed distance learning packets for students to use during this time. Hard copies were made available, but also the packet materials has been placed on the district and school websites. Parents can download materials from there.”
Williams was enthusiastic about the number of packets that had been picked up throughout the district. “The majority of students have received packets,” said Williams. “That is phenomenal.”
She thanked the administrators, teachers, coaches, reading specialists and staff for their hard work in preparing and distributing the packets to make sure that students had quality material to work on until school reopens. “I also want to thank parents who took time out of their busy day to come and pick up these packets,” added Williams. “We wanted to be proactive in the event that school closure is extended, so we have created additional materials that we will make available for students and parents. The state department is also sending materials for students to use. The student work will be returned to their teachers when school reconvenes. But with the preparation of the packets, district staff rose to the occasion.”
Williams also reported that after several conference calls with the state department of education, the state superintendent is going to request that mandatory testing be waived in lieu of the virus and school closings.
Board member Sharon Witkin, who has two sons in local schools, congratulated Williams, administrators, teachers, and staff members for their hard work on the distance learning packets. “These are wonderful, and I had no idea that our staff could produce something so incredible in such a short time. The information is so easy to follow. I was very happy with the quick service, smiles and warm wishes of the staff members who handed me the packet when I drove up. I went through the materials with my children with ease,” stated Witkin. “Ms. Williams’ staff did an excellent job.”
Sean Gruber, public information coordinator, made the board aware that the media had been informed of district procedures during this time, and the website was constantly updated. Phone dialers have also been utilized.
Cliff Warren, assistant superintendent, congratulated his colleagues on their efficiency during this situation. “It never ceases to amaze me, and it is remarkable at how this district comes together in times of crises and works to do what needs to be done. I also want to thank Mr. Blakeney and the custodial staff for their efforts,” said Warren.
He went on to inform the board that every school is being cleaned and sanitized according to procedures and guidelines on a spec sheet issued for the Corvid-19 epidemic. They will return to the buildings and clean again next week. The buses will be cleaned and sanitized as well while students and staff are not in the buildings or buses.
