Gilford students face changes and new set of expectations, superintendent says

GILFORD — Students will return to classes next month with pandemic precautions in place, including mandatory use of face masks, school board members decided Tuesday after taking nearly four hours of public comments.

District Superintendent Kirk Beitler drew up the back-to-school plan, which also features a staggered start.

Students and staff will get acclimated to the new procedures Sept. 8-11, with some grades attending on some days. During this time, all students will be issued a Chromebook laptop computer.

“Students will be back after not having been in the building for five months,” Beitler said Wednesday. “They will learn about new expectations, the requirement that masks be worn, the different directions in the hallways and no use of lockers.”

On Sept. 14, in-person instruction will begin for all students who opt for it. Remote instruction will be offered for students who take that option. The plan is for Gilford teachers to handle online classes, although students would also have the option of accessing the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School.

A district survey has indicated some teachers have concerns about returning to face-to-face instruction during a pandemic.

Beitler said the district is ready to work with teachers.

“We’ll take teacher cases one by one and work through anything to do with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and how we can make accommodations to meet those needs,” he said.

Between 79 and 86 percent of staff members — depending on which building they work in — said they were either very or somewhat concerned about the schools going to a full-opening mode.

The back-to-school plan specifies that mask usage is “not negotiable.”

Lauren Cooper, an emergency room doctor, spoke in favor of masks and the other precautions. She said relatively low numbers of documented COVID-19 infections in the area does not mean there is not a clear and present risk.

“We are not testing a majority of the population,” she said. “We have tested a very low percentage. I would put money that there are people in Gilford who have this and don’t know it.”

She acknowledged that students have been out in the community this summer working summer jobs.

“But there is a difference between that and coming back to school in large numbers for hours a day,” she said. “If they don’t have masks on, it is very transmissible.”

Angelo Furruggia said the plan envisioned a “worst-case scenario” and should be rewritten.

“Logistically speaking, there are too many moving parts, too many choices, too much to work out in a short time,” he said.

He said some of the plan was out of sync with the relatively small number of COVID-19 cases identified in the community.

“The children have gone largely unaffected,” he said. “You have to weigh the big picture here.”