Loveland Schools Delays start

Monday, August 31, is the newly adopted start date for Loveland City School District 2020-2021 school year

By Chuck Gibson 

LOVELAND, OH (August 12, 2020) – The Loveland City School District Board of Education adopted a revised 2020-2021 school year district calendar during their meeting held Tuesday, August 11. 

The first day of school for Loveland students has been moved from the original Wednesday, August 26, date to Monday, August 31. In a statement released today, Wednesday, August 12, the school indicated the delayed start date for students will allow teachers and staff three additional in-service planning days before the first day of school. Additionally, this means the staff will have August 17-28 to be trained in the health & safety protocols. It will also provide more time for developing curriculum for in-person and remote learning. 

There will be no change in the number of instructional school days for students as a result of the later start adopted in the new district school year calendar. The three days changed to in-service days August 26-28 will now replace scheduled in-service days October 23, January 15, and March 19. Those three days will now be scheduled instruction attendance days for students. 

Facial coverings/masks policy for students, staff, & teaachers was also on the agenda for the school board Tuesday night. The board adopted a face covering/mask policy which requires masks be worn by students and staff in all grades PreK-12. All students riding a bus must wear a mask while boarding, riding and departing the bus. The policy also requires masks/facial coverings be worn at all times in the buildings; only to be removed upon direction of a teacher or staff member. Here is the board policy statement regardingthe requirement of face coverings and masks as published in the statement released Wednesday, August 12, by the LCSD: 

The Board policy states that face coverings/masks are required and should:

• Fully cover mouth, nose, and chin;

• Not create difficulty breathing while worn; and

• Be held secure through a tie, elastic, etc. to prevent slipping; and

• Be of effective quality (i.e., double-layered, non-permeable, tightly woven fabric without valves).

NOTE: The approved face coveing/mask policy will be posted on the Loveland School District website. Loveland school administrators continue to await written orders from the Governor for full implementation of facial covering/mask policy. 

The blended in-person model and the full in-person return to school options were also discussed by the school board during the meeting. Ultimately, the board offered full support for opening the school year with the in-person blended model. In their official statement, they cited two goals for opening the Loveland Schools with the blended in-person model: 1) to open safely following health protocols to remain in school, and 2) to move to 5-day in-person learning when possible based on several factors including the current infection rate in Hamilton County; the evidence of spread; and appropriate levels of staffing. The board also offered the following example of how the return to full 5-day in-person learning could be impacted: 

For example, if several teachers would be quarantined because of contact-tracing or illness, the lack of availability of substitute teachers would impact the ability to return to five full days in person.

Here is the conclusion of the statement released by the Loveland City School District Wednesday afternoon, August 12: 

Loveland Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse said the district would be evaluating this health data for grades K-6 the week of September 7-12; grades 7-12 the week of September 28-October 3; and again every two weeks thereafter. If the data supports a safe return, the district will begin to transition to full-time capacity.

The next regularly scheduled LCSD BOE business meeting is Spetember 22, 2020 (Fourth Tuesday) 

Loveland Beacon will provide more details, comments from board members, Superintendent Crouse, and Loveland School families in a follow up to this story. Keep Watch.