By: Rushil Yerrabelli

At the March 2nd Board of Education (BOE) meeting, WHPS Superintendent Tom Moore made a few key announcements regarding the Spring of 2020-21 School Year. 

 

725 doses of the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine have been allocated to be administered to WHPS staff at the first of two vaccination clinics scheduled this weekend. Regarding the development of vaccines, Mr. Moore asserted the importance of education, saying, “It’s a miracle what’s happened in a year…what science has done in a year…and that’s what education makes possible.”  Vaccinating teachers is one of the first steps in the efforts to return to normalcy after what has been a long twelve months. 

 

On that note, Superintendent Moore also stated that he is comfortable to “...reopen [secondary schools] fully and move out of hybrid during the month of March.” Exact details regarding this change, such as a date, are still being determined in order to accommodate other March activities like the School Day SAT and conferences. Mr. Moore did, however, state that he will “...be making an announcement on the [exact] date next week,” of when the switchover will occur.

 

When asked about how students and families who may feel uncomfortable returning to full in-person (from the hybrid model) will be accommodated, Mr. Moore reaffirmed his belief that schools will be safe, but that streaming into classes will remain an option, saying that “...if there are reasons, then that person can still stream into the class…”. 

 

Finally, Mr. Moore emphasized the work being done to create possible prom and Safe Grad experiences for Conard Seniors. He stated that they are “...actively planning for graduations at both [Conard and Hall]...high schools.” While further direction from the governor is required, there seems to be confidence that physical graduation will indeed happen. Mr. Moore hopes that “this will be a special spring for our kids” and made sure to highlight the fact that “there’s a lot of reasons to be excited.”

 

In order to stay up-to-date with the latest announcements from the Board of Education, keep it with the Conard Courant.

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