Minot Public Schools sets graduation for May 22, announces summer programs
Summer programs roll out in June
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Graduation for Minot seniors will take place this Friday at the North Dakota State Fair Grandstand.
Supt. Mark Vollmer announced the graduation and plans for the summer school and meal programs at a COVID-19 news briefing Tuesday.
Nearly 450 graduates have been allowed only two guests as social distancing will be practiced at the commencement ceremony. The ceremony will be broadcast on the Minot Public Schools website, Magic City Campus website and on the school's Facebook live feed. A graduation video will be created for seniors that will include all the previous awards programs.
"We have had many kindergarten graduations this week and eighth-grade graduations and fifth-grade celebrations for those students going into middle school, and we've used a social distancing model," Vollmer said. "I do want to thank our staff for their creativity and finding ways to honor those kids and in a very unusual type of situation."
He announced the extended school year for special needs students will use a blended model, in which half the students will be in session one day and half the students the next day. They will have activities to do on the alternate days when their program is not in session.
"We will be offering for our special education students the opportunity to do a virtual program, in which they could do everything from home. That is an offering for this summer only," Vollmer said.
The special needs program will run from June 7 to July 22, with a break week from June 28 through July 4.
Summer students will be scanned for temperature and symptoms before entering the building. If students use school district transportation, they will be scanned for temperature and for symptoms before they get on the bus in the morning. Restroom use will have limited access to control the number using the facilities at any given time. Extensive cleaning of restrooms and congregate areas, including playgrounds, will occur.
"Masks are required anytime social distancing is not possible," Vollmer said. "If we're seeing cases of COVID-19 in our schools or if we see cases in our community, then we will transfer to a distance learning model for the remainder of our programs."
English language learners will have summer school June 8-26, which also will be a blended model. Friday online sessions will provide remediation and special intervention for students who need additional help.
The elementary program will run July 13-31. The program is planned as in-person but that could change, depending on State Health Department guidelines and community COVID-19 cases at the time, Vollmer said.
"We are going to be placing an emphasis on technology integration and district-supported communication platforms during that summer learning program," he said.
The middle school program will start at Jim Hill Middle School on June 8. Magic City will host the high school program, also on June 8, and both programs will run through June 26 as blended models, Monday through Thursday. Fridays will focus on distance remediation for students needing extra help.
The Community Learning Center program begins June 1 with a "soft" roll-out, Vollmer said.
"We're going to be taking no more than 125 at each site, with a potential expansion, and that would not happen sooner than June 15," he said. "But that potential expansion will be, again, simply based on infection rate data."
The lunch program conducted through the school is presently serving about 3,200 lunches a day, with a corresponding number of breakfasts, to students from Minot and Minot Air Force Base, he said.
"We are going to scale back slightly on that - on the locations that we will be running out of - but we are going to continue that service now until the 30th of June," Vollmer said.
Following the scale back in sites, meals will continue at Magic City Campus, Longfellow, Washington, Roosevelt and Memorial at Minot AFB. Delivery service will continue weekdays between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Minot Air Force Base and to the mobile home parks of Robinsdale, Jefferson, Golden Nugget, Holiday Village and the frontage road for Sunrise Colony and Holiday Park.
The meals on the base will be delivered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. along the bus routes already scheduled.
The meal service is available for children from age one to 18 and for adults with disabilities. Any decision to continue past June 30 will depend on federal regulations and recommendations, Vollmer said.
Parents with questions about any of the programs can reach out to their school offices or to the administration office.
"We want to make sure that parents are comfortable with the process of bringing their kids back to school. We can help answer those questions and, hopefully, alleviate any stress that might be out there," Vollmer said. "The big question I get all the time is, 'What is the fall going to look like?' and I have absolutely no idea. But we will be planning our summer to make sure that we are addressing the issues of what school might look like."