IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Falls School District has joined other East Idaho districts planning for a full return to school this fall.
“Our goal is for all students to return in person,” the district announced on its Facebook page Wednesday.
The news follows similar announcements from the Madison and West Side school districts, which say they’ll bring kids back in August, with safety precautions in place. The Jefferson Joint School District unveiled a reopening plan infused with a color-coded criteria to allow for adjustments to the spreading of coronavirus.
Idaho Falls’ plan is similar:
- Green represents a “new normal” set of operations. Schools will reopen with all students attending full-time and with “reasonable procedures in accordance with health guidance.”
- Yellow would allow students to learn through a hybrid schedule of alternating attendance days. Some students will learn part-time in school and some part-time at home. “Based on conditions, hybrid schedules could be implemented in a single school, within a cluster of schools or districtwide,” the district said.
- Red would require remote learning. Based on conditions, trustees could close a single school, some or all schools.
Click here for a full rundown of Idaho Falls’ plan.
Idaho Falls trustees based their decision on “weeks of work and input from parents, staff and health officials,” the district said. Patrons can provide input on the plan here.
After shuttering public schools for the year in March, Gov. Brad Little’s State Board of Education will defer decisions for fall to local administrators and trustees. As a result, reopening plans are emerging — and vary between schools and districts.
