Reopening plans for school districts are due at the end of this week, and education officials as well as the Governor will judge if they meet the needs of Mississippi students. School districts can decide if they want to have classes in person, online, or a mixture of the two. Governor Tate Reeves says these plans must make sure students are educated properly and safely. He says “I look forward to seeing the plans that are put forth by various districts. I’ve heard anecdotally that this district is gonna do this, and this district is gonna do that, and some say they may not let kids back in their schools for a long, long time. I want to see what every different group puts together, every different school district, and we’ll make decisions accordingly.”
Governor Reeves says some students have gone five months without significant learning opportunities, and he doesn't want them to fall any further behind. He says if the majority of school districts don’t meet certain standards, he may issue an executive order requiring those measures. Reeves says “I want to have confidence in our school boards to make the best decisions for Mississippi kids, but I can not sit idly by while some school districts are educating kids, and others do not have plans in place that can both protect the kids, as well as make sure that they are seeing academic progress.”
The Governor says keeping students out of school buildings until the virus is gone is not an option, but neither is reopening schools and ignoring the virus.
