School is back in session in Watauga County from Pre-K through high school. As the COVID 19 pandemic dictates the school system’s capabilities, this means, for most students, navigating a new approach to schooling: remote learning. It is a stressful time right now, and trusting new processes can be overwhelming for everyone. This forges the question: when will things go back to what is normal?
For Watauga County, our hopes of returning to school are reliant on a community wide effort, specifically regarding Appalachian State’s. In the words of Watauga County Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Scott Elliott, “What is happening with ASU affects our entire community. How well the virus is prevented or contained among the university's students has the potential to have a significant impact on the level of virus spread and level of illness across our entire community.”
The community as a whole has to make an effort to be conscious of the Center for Disease Control’s guidelines and comply with them in order for change to occur. For the university, this requires a plethora of safety guidelines as students return to campus and attend classes.
The Watauga County School system is working hand in hand with AppHealthCaret to develop the best measures needed to keep people safe within the school system, the county, and the university. For App State specifically, mandatory policies have been set in place for students and staff members that adhere to the CDC’s guidelines and state-level directives.
Students returned to class on August 17, attending a mixture of classes either being online, hybrid, or in-person to ensure social distancing is possible to the greatest extent. Classrooms have been modified to limit occupancy and keep distance between all persons at a minimum of 6 feet. Auditoriums and conference rooms, etc. have been transformed into learning spaces to aid in this process.
Other campus policies regarding public spaces and residence halls include mandatory face coverings, these being found in vending machines and provided by the university. Hand sanitizer dispensers were installed into buildings throughout campus. Self-administered health checks are required for students, faculty, and staff before entering campus or departing from residence halls. Student Health Service and AppHealthCare are providing testing for members of the university as needed and requested. Regulations in place, the percentage of compliance is another issue to consider, as well as the impact these procedures have on the metrics.
In discussing her pride with App State’s pandemic safety efforts, Michelle Novacek, Director of Real Estate and External Communications at App State, says “I'm totally optimistic. We're learning that working remotely is completely possible for some of us, and there's no question that some of the adaptations we've had to make out of necessity have turned out to be surprisingly agreeable.”
It is within the realm of possibility that Watauga County can see their situation improve, though it is not certain. Our local health agencies continue to monitor our cases, recoveries, testing, and other metrics.
According to Dr. Elliot, “Right now the plan is to return to school in person on Monday, Oct. 19 on the 2X3 plan. We will not be able to consider moving back to having all students in school at the same time until the state gives us that option. We will continue to monitor our local health metrics as well as the number of staff members who test positive or who are in isolation, and make a decision by October 1 regarding the remainder of the semester.”
All that is for certain right now is that our choices do have impacts, and the more responsibility we take, the better the outcome will be for everybody.
Written by Sullivan McAulay
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