The Piper school board tonight unanimously approved a school opening date of Sept. 9.
The school calendar that was approved will end the school year on May 27 and will build in time for snow days, according to Superintendent Jessica Dain at a Zoom board meeting. There will be five minutes added to the end of the school day, and also, there will be one less paid personal day.
Dr. Dain told the Piper board that they heard today about 3 p.m. from the Unified Government about a health order to delay the start of school until after Labor Day. Since it was a decision made by the county, it wasn’t a decision that the board needs to make, she said.
Schools may open at 50 percent of capacity, according to the fire marshal’s capacity figures for the building, she said.
Dr. Dain presented a plan that will allow parents to choose between two options for their children, either a hybrid plan or a remote plan. Dr. Dain said each school district here will have its own different plan.
Those Piper students in the hybrid plan will spend part of the time in school buildings and part of the time at home. There will be distancing at school. Those choosing the remote plan are to spend time doing their school work at home, through online resources. There will be a regular schedule of classes for the day, and attendance will be taken.
The district’s plan still will need to be reviewed by the Unified Government Health Department before it is approved, she said.
More than 100 persons, including educators, staff and parents, came together to work on the plan, she said.
Starting Tuesday, July 28, emails will be sent to parents so they can choose either the hybrid or remote option, she added. Parents should respond by Aug. 4.
All of the options will be open only to persons who live in the Piper school district boundaries, and who enroll their students, she said.
Students in either option will be able to participate in any activities and sports that are offered, following county health guidelines, she added.
In other action, the board approved the date for the budget hearing at 6 p.m. Aug. 10 at Piper East School, 4410 N. 107th St., Kansas City, Kansas.
According to Piper officials, the proposed budget is basically a flat mill levy, with only two-hundredths of a mill difference compared to last year. In the Piper district, the assessed valuation went down a little this year, according to officials. The estimated tax rate is 57.138 mills for the 2020-2021 year.
The Piper reopening plan, around 40 pages, was posted tonight on the Piper school district website at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x_Z1W_3Ej6LGZKOv7_PIH9B5hL-FijAg/view.
To see the Piper board meeting, which has more information about the Piper school reopening plan and more information about the proposed budget, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg27rnI5gS0.