Student life at New Albany-Plain Local School District continues as normally as possible during a global pandemic, while administrators enforce measures to keep COVID-19 from spreading.
Seniors Sydney Lehmann and Tommy Morris, for instance, have adjusted since starting the new school year on and off campus.
Lehmann’s theater group and Morris’ swim team have taken precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We’re all very impressed with how the school is doing,” Morris says. “Most kids think the school is doing the best job they can.”
Morris says social distancing guidelines are being followed during team practices. During the school day, he rarely sees teachers needing to instruct students to wear masks properly. His family doesn’t go out as often as they did pre-pandemic and stays in their own family cluster, Morris says. The family sometimes goes to get takeout from their favorite restaurant in Bexley to support small businesses.
Lehmann’s theater troupe divided into three casts of 10 people each that played on different nights to enhance social distancing on the stage. Other changes include adjustments to the fight choreography and any kissing scenes that were removed, she says.
The performances continued at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts with the audience capped at 15 percent of its capacity, or about 120 seats of the 750 total. The performances are livestreamed, allowing Lehmann’s relatives in Florida to see her perform for the first time ever.
After school hours, Morris and Lehmann agree their peers mostly follow social distancing guidelines at Market Square District businesses such as wearing masks or sitting six feet apart at available patio seating.
“All my peers seem to be doing a good job,” Morris says.
NAPLS has posted “Mask Up. Back Up. Wash Up.” signs throughout its facilities to promote wearing a mask and following social distancing guidelines, but Superintendent Michael Sawyers says COVID-19 fatigue has become a challenge to overcome in recent months.
“(Students are) only with me a third of a typical day,” he says. “My concern becomes outside of school.”
Sawyers says he often observes some families at Market Square not wearing masks or following social distancing guidelines. Some of those families’ youngest members may be playing with other kids in the area’s green spaces without masks or appropriate distance.
Those actions could send mixed messages to younger students if their families have different attitudes about following the health protocols.
In addition, the district has made efforts to keep its schools open. The switch to remote learning in spring 2020 was easier because students had an established relationship with their teachers. The district, however, didn’t have that same luxury going into the new school year.
“We all need to do our own part.” —Michael Sawyers
The district delayed the start of the 2020-2021 school year until after Labor Day in a hybrid model that rotated students in and out of the buildings on certain days of the week.
It later transitioned to bringing all students back to the building five days a week, but offered students a virtual option if they were not comfortable returning to the classroom yet.
In October, Sawyers says most of the cases of students who tested positive for COVID-19 resulted from exposure outside of school hours. The district’s high school students switched back to a hybrid model later that same month.
From Sept. 12 through Nov. 16, there have been 60 students who tested positive for COVID-19 and 824 student quarantines. There have also been 13 teachers who tested positive and 35 teacher quarantines.
“I want schools to stay open,” Sawyers says. “We all need to do our own part.”
Brandon Klein is the editor. Feedback welcome at bklein@cityscenemediagroup.com.
