Seventy-one people participated through Zoom in the Union County College Corner Joint School District Board of Trustees special meeting Thursday night, July 30, to make changes to the corporation’s re-entry plan. About another 10 people were masked up and in the audience.
Numbers of known positive cases in Union County have gone up recently. Two of the new cases are children of school age, UCCCJSD Superintendent Aron Borowiak said.
There were a couple of major areas of change to the plan that was initially adopted on Monday, July 13.
One was due to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s executive order on mandatory masks. Borowiak said the governor’s executive order on masks runs through August 26. However, it can be extended.
Students must wear masks on buses, in classes, where social distancing is not possible, and while changing classes. The only exceptions are students with physician notes, special education-related reasons, recess and physical education classes.
Face coverings can be masks, scarves and face shields.
Second is a change on when a student can come back to school after being ill. When the re-entry plan was passed on July 13, the recommended amount of time for a student to be allowed to go back to school after having a fever was 72 hours after the child had a normal temperature without the use of fever-reducing medication.
Now due to a change in the Centers for Disease Control guidelines, the new recommended amount is 24 hours.
However, there is another clause in the re-entry plan where it says if a person has symptoms that relate to COVID-19 symptoms, then the child must stay home 10 days from the first date the symptoms appeared. And the COVID-19 symptoms are wide ranging. According to the information the school gave out, COVID-19 symptoms include: congestion or runny nose, fever of 100.4 or higher, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, diarrhea, nausea, sore throat, muscle pain, chills and new loss of taste or smell. Under the symptoms, it says it usually presents with more than one symptom.
A person on Zoom and board member Jessica Jones said the two statements seem incongruous and confusing. Board president Mary Eversole said maybe they could insert the words “and/or.”
Borowiak explained how the school will be in daily communication with the Union County Department of Health (UCDH). This is helped because the school nurse, Lori West, is also the president of the UCDH.
Then, Borowiak talked about how it is supposed to work if a student tests positive for the virus. The parent will contact the school corporation. The school then notifies the Indiana Department of Health (IDH) and the tracing department within the IDH. The school corporation then identifies the students and/or staff who have been in close contact with the student testing positive. The IDH then contacts those who have been identified as in close contact, and they are tested. If one of those test positive, then it all begins again.
A close contact is defined as anyone who was within six feet of the person testing positive for more than 15 minutes in the two days before the symptoms were revealed. In that case, the students and/or teachers will have to self quarantine for 14 days.
Siblings of the student who tested positive are considered close contacts, and they also have to self quarantine for 14 days. However, those students around the siblings, considered to be close contacts, do not have to self quarantine.
One board member said their spouse recently tested positive. The IDH tracking department did not contact the family for 16 days after the positive test. When the school board member stated the number of days to the person from IDH calling her, the tracking person said she did not have to ask any questions because of the time delay. The school board member asked why there was a delay, and the IDH employee said they have been inundated with positive results.
Union County Health Nurse Kim Klein was on Zoom and made some comments in answer to this situation. However, only the school board members with headsets could hear Klein. Eversole said she would repeat what Klein said, but did not do that.
Apparently, the IDH is putting new protocols in place for the opening of school, and it will hopefully take care of the delay situation.
Also, West said if a student refuses to take a test for the virus, there is nothing the school corporation can do. It is within the student and parents/guardians right to refuse to take the test.
After more discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve the changes. Board members and Borowiak emphasized this is a fluid situation with changes happening almost daily so there is a high probability the board will be back in amending the plan in the future.
Following the vote, board member Mike Sims brought up athletics. He said he cannot wrap his mind around young people banging around on each other not wearing masks and not able to social distance. He said other people have asked him about it, and he doesn’t have answers for them. He said the governor or someone seems to have their priorities in the wrong order.
Eversole said she understood what Sims was saying and maybe there would be a point where sports or certain sports will not be allowed to go forth.
Jones was concerned the teachers do not have enough time to prepare for this challenging school year and wanted the teachers to have more time. However, Borowiak and others said the adding of more days is something that is bound by the contract with the teachers and cannot be arbitrarily changed.
There are 160 students who chose the online method of schooling, and that is 13 percent of the corporation’s student enrollment.
Board member Darrel Harvey was concerned about the number of children in the kindergarten classes due to the need to social distance. He was told there are 24 and 25 students at the kindergarten classes in College Corner, but that does include the five students who chose the online method. At Liberty, the two classes have 21 students each. But those numbers do not include the nine who are online.
Registration is still ongoing.
Harvey said that is a lot of students per class especially in this unusual situation.
First student day in school is Wednesday, August 12.
Before I write this short article, I want to go out of my reporter mode and enter into my fired editor mode. After I was fired, and the shutdown hit, I watched and read the news like it was a World Series game, and the Reds were in the World Series. I was glued to the TV. I read every article I could find from different sources: Fox, CNN, BBC and others. I could not get enough. Then, I began to feel as many expressed on Facebook that the media was over-hyping the virus.
And let me tell you, I do not want to do that. But I just looked at the new numbers released for Franklin County by the Indiana Department of Health (IDH) for Thursday, July 30. And that led to this article. I apologize to those who may think I am overhyping this, but as a person living and working in FC, I find this disturbing.
Now, back to being a reporter:
The Indiana Department of Health released its tabulation for the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the county. The increase is another six over Wednesday, July 29’s numbers. As of Thursday, the county has 187 total COVID-19 positive cases. Wednesday it was 181. On July 1, it was 121.
Editorial comment: The only person I know who is worse at math than me is my OLDER sister Karen.
Reporter: However, that is an increase of about 55 percent this month. Franklin County Health Department, through the FC COVID-19 Task Force, has promised to put out tracking information on where the people may be acquiring the virus. But to this point, that has not happened.
Kyle Beckman, 34, of Greens Fork, has succumbed to injuries he received in a head-on crash on a Henry County road Wednesday morning, July 29.
Beckman was airlifted to a hospital in Indianapolis this morning after his Honda Accord was hit head on by a Ford Explorer. About 8:42 a.m., Wednesday, Henry County Dispatch received a call of a head-on collision on County Road 300 West north of CR 50 N. They arrived on the scene along with EMS and requested District 51 Crash Reconstruction Investigators.
The preliminary investigation by Indiana State Police Master Trooper Scott Keegan indicates that a silver Ford Explorer, driven by Stacie Boykin, age 46, of New Castle, was northbound on CR 300 W., when her vehicle crested a hill left of center. The Explorer hit a southbound Honda Accord, driven by Beckman, head on in the southbound lane. Beckman was flown by medical helicopter from the scene to a hospital in Indianapolis with serious injuries. Boykin was taken by EMS to Henry Community Health in New Castle with non-life-threatening injuries.
The crash remains under investigation. Master Trooper Keegan was assisted at the scene by Master Troopers Coley McCutcheon and Michael Bradbury, as well as, Trooper Mark Hanna; the Henry County Sheriff’s Department, Henry County EMS and the Harrison Township Fire Department.
Source: ISP Sgt. John Bowling, public information officer for the Pendleton District.
Franklin County Community School Corporation (FCCSC) will begin in-classroom learning with a start date one week later than planned.
FCCSC Board of Trustees made the decision Wednesday afternoon, July 29, during a special school board meeting. The starting date is now Wednesday, August 12, when it had been planned for Wednesday, August 5. Also, online learning will not start until Monday, August 17.
The main reason for the in-school delayed start is the Whitewater Career Center’s (WCC) board of trustees voted recently to move its starting date back one week to August 12. FCCSC Superintendent Dr. Debbie Howell and assistant superintendent Tammy Chavis said there are more than 120 students at Franklin County High School (FCHS) who attend the technical school located in Connersville.
If FCCSC went ahead with its August 5 starting date, the students who attend WCC would not have anything to do during the afternoon, when they would usually attend the WCC.
Board member Sharon Wesolowski asked why the students could not be placed in study hall during the afternoon. Chavis said FCHS does not offer study hall, and there is not a good place to put the students where they would be social distanced from each other.
Wesolowski then spoke as a parent and not a school board member. She said her children are ready to return to school, and she is ready for them to be out of the house and back in school.
Howell said when she, Chavis and board members, Beth Foster and Terry Bryant, met with school teachers Wednesday morning, the teachers were very receptive in delaying the start by one week. Foster said she went into the meeting wanting to hold onto the August 5 start date but after listening to the teachers’ opinions, decided the one-week delay would be a good idea.
One of the big reasons the teachers and administrators at the high school want the delay is the fact more than 300 students overall in the FCCSC system have opted for the online learning, and 100 of those students are high school students.
Howell said this has caused a total revamping of students’ schedules. She used the example of a freshman English class now may have only five students. However, another freshman English class may have 24. By redoing the schedules, they can balance the number of students in each class – say 12-13 in each class — and be able to social distance all of the students.
If the students are social distancing in the classroom, they do not have to wear a mask at that time, board members said.
Also, the large number of students opting for the online learning option surprised administrators and teachers. Because of the large number, FCCSC has decided to have its own teachers teach the online students. The original online option plan was for an outside vendor to be in charge of the teaching.
However, Howell said with this large number and the hope and desire that this virus danger may one day abate, they would like the online students to be on the same curriculum as the in-school students so when the time comes for all the students to be together at the school, the integration will be easier.
Also, Chavis said they have extended the date for the deadline to sign students up for the online option. There are many factors going into the extension she said.
She used the example of one family where the dad was recently put on the list to have a heart transplant. The parents do not want their children to be in an environment where they could bring home illnesses, other illnesses besides COVID but also COVID, and jeopardize the dad. This was found out after the deadline had passed. She said she could not say no to that family. Also, the virus situation is very fluid right now with a spike in cases in Franklin County.
Just after the meeting ended, the Franklin County Health Department reported there are now 60 new cases in FC since July 1, which is the largest one-month increase the county has had since figures were first charted in mid-March.
Parents, who might have wanted the in-school learning for their children, may opt now for the online learning option.
Part of the delay for the online option start date is the delivery has been delayed for the devices for hot spots at various places where students do not have good WiFi connections. Chavis and Howell said they were ordered early, but there is a shortage as all schools want them.
Chavis said the vendor, Verizon, said they should be delivered soon. According to Chavis, she prays about it every night.
With the new in-person dates, students in odd classes such as 1-3-5-7-9-11 will go to class Wednesday, August 12. Students in even grades such as K-2-4-6-8-10-12 will attend on Thursday, August 13, and all students will report on Friday, August 15.
Howell and Foster explained why they are doing the stagger start.
According to Howell, the in-school learning during the COVID situation is new to everyone. It gives them a chance to work on the transportation, eating lunch, moving around in the halls and more. Foster used an example of kindergarten students. She said one mother she talked to was upset she would not be able to walk her child into the class. However, Foster said, prior to school starting, parents can make appointments, take the child to see the classroom and the teacher. And with the staggered start, the first-grade teachers will be available to help the kindergarten students get to the right place and answer questions from them.
Wesolowski was able to gain a compromise from Howell. She asked Howell to use the extra week to do a Plan B in case the WCC delays opening again. Howell agreed to that.
With the delay in opening, the school board members had to change the school calendar. The first teacher day is now Monday, August 10, with the second teacher day, Tuesday, Aug. 11. The last student day is now Friday, May 28 instead of Friday, May 21. Graduation’s date has been moved to Sunday, June 6.
Bryant suggested instead of extending the school year by a week in May, the board members cancel the fall break and go to school during that week. Wesolowski said families plan fall vacations during break, but several board members and administrators said travel may be limited by that time.
The school board will discuss the fall break and other related topics, including fall sports, at the next meeting, Monday August 10 at 7 p.m.
Kyle Seibert is a 2020 Franklin County High School (FCHS) graduate who was also the senior class president among holding many other offices. He received an associate degree in general studies while attending high school.
And Seibert, 18, is arguably the youngest candidate in the county’s history to run for the Franklin County Community School Corporation (FCCSC) Board of Trustees.
“I am running for school board for several reasons,” Seibert said. “First, as many people already know, I have been very active within the schools’ systems during the past few years, which has allowed me to build connections and relationships with people all throughout our schools and learn about the issues our school system faces. As a recent graduate, I have seen, heard about, and experienced firsthand issues facing our schools. I hope to use this unique perspective, the connections I have made, and my experience organizing school functions to help tackle the problems our schools face.
“I also am running to hopefully give back to the school and the people who have shaped me into who I am today — I would be privileged and honored to play a small role in building up our schools and improving them for all stakeholders,” he continued.
Seibert said he sees three major problems with how things are occurring in the school system today.
“At its core, I believe that there are three major areas the board can improve on that will allow it to better tackle the issues our schools face,” Seibert said. “These include improving communication with stakeholders, widening access to the board, and being better advocates for the school and community. Let me explain what each of these means to me in greater detail:
“Improving Communication with Stakeholders – At best, I feel that board decisions and information coming out of the board is often hit-or-miss, and there is no one clear direction or source where information comes from. For example, people might find out a decision from the board on Facebook one month, but next month they might find out important information from a press release in a local publication. This is very confusing, not to mention decisions seem rarely finalized before they are released and more clarification is often needed. I think there are a few easy fixes to this, like publishing a clear, concise monthly newsletter with info from previous meetings that is made accessible to all relevant stakeholders. We should also work with local publishers to ensure the information they publish is accurate and up to date. I believe that this will improve the public image of the board and the corporation and will reduce the confusion that is often associated with school information in the community, which I know is a frustration point for many people.
“Board Access – In my experiences in interacting with people in our schools, I think there is a general feeling that the board may not be the most responsive or open to issues stakeholders might be having, and so people may not present problems they are having to the board,” Seibert said. “This is a huge issue that prevents the board from receiving useful feedback on how we can make our schools a better place. When I talk about improving access to the board, I am meaning creating new ways for stakeholders to provide critical feedback to us and work to improve the perception that the board is inaccessible or not willing to hear criticism and take action on challenging problems.
“Being Better Advocates for our Schools – It’s the board’s job to be the biggest advocate of our school system, teachers, and our students,” he continued. “I think this could be a part of the reason for declining enrollment; we’re not getting out there and promoting our schools and the opportunities that we have to offer. I believe that the board should play a serious offensive game in this respect, and we should not be scared to go out into our community and the surrounding area promoting our strengths and what we have to offer. As a part of that offensive strategy, the board should even push lobbying efforts at the state level for issues like teacher pay and greater public school funding. Transforming the board into a formidable force that fights hard on behalf of the corporation might sound pie in the sky to some, but our teachers and students deserve nothing less.
“Once we work to fix these fundamental problems, I believe it will be much easier for the board to tackle any issue that comes before it,” he continued.
And while Seibert touched on it in his third point, he said the base problem facing not only FCCSC but many other school corporations in the area is declining enrollment. This is a critical because funding from the state is based on enrollment. With declining enrollment, the school corporations with falling enrollment numbers must make do with less money year after year.
“I think it is probably the defining problem facing our schools in the next few years to come,” Seibert said. “In my opinion, we have really strayed away from talking about this issue, even though it has huge implications on the amount of funding our schools receive, and by extension, how well we are able to equip ourselves with the tools we need to succeed. I won’t pretend that I have a magic wand to fix the problem, but at the very least, I hope to start a conversation about how we can reverse this trend and start collecting information and data on how we can retain students and where students are going when they do leave our school system.”
Leadership is not new to Seibert. While in the FCHS system, Seibert was student council president twice, four times president for the Class of 2020, vice president and president of the local FFA, president of the local Honor Society, vice president of the Key Club and captain of the track and cross country teams for three years.
“I try to keep busy,” Seibert said. “Not only am I just a recent graduate of FCHS, I am a graduate who has been extremely involved in countless functions related to our schools and community over the years. I’ve been ‘in the trenches,’ if you will, and I have seen exactly the types of issues our students, teachers, and schools face. I believe this perspective will prove to be very valuable to the board as we work to navigate and solve the issues our corporation faces.”
Seibert said he did not know getting an associate degree while in high school was even an option. He wants to make it better known to other students at Franklin County High School and especially the students’ parents as it is great way to save money on collegiate expenses.
“After finishing up about five credit-hours worth of classes this spring, I was able to get my associate degree in general studies from Ivy Tech,” Seibert said. “Throughout high school, I always worked hard to take challenging classes, and it just so happened that I had taken the right combination of dual-credit coursework along with those extra five credits over the years to meet the requirements for the degree.
“What surprised me most about this experience is how few people knew that this was even an option; I didn’t even know about it until earlier this year,” he continued. “As a member of the board, I hope to work with high school administration and counselors to make sure that all of our students are aware of this opportunity and many others we offer in our schools. Imagine if all of our graduating seniors each year knew about this program and took advantage of it like I had — it could be a game-changing and money-saving opportunity for them and their families.”
As class president, Seibert was on the front lines of how the controversial graduation ceremony was held at FCHS.
“The 2020 Commencement Ceremony was absolutely the right call,” Seibert said. “At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the board and of administration to do what is right for the health and safety of our students, and the ceremony did just that. I am proud that I played a role in organizing and facilitating this unique event for my class. I think it provided numerous benefits, like greatly lowering the chance of spreading the virus, reducing time spent outside like we would have during a traditionally hot, long, and humid ceremony, and giving our graduates a memento that they will be able to look back on years from now.”
However, Seibert is not sure the current FCCSC re-entry plan is the correct way to go.
“I have mixed emotions about the current reopening plan the board has approved for the 2020-2021 school year,” Seibert said. “On one hand, I am glad that the plan seems to give people options for how they’d like to send their children back to school this fall, and the board seems to be listening to parents and guardians in the community; but, again, the board and administration should always make sure the safety of our students and staff is our top priority.
“If I am being honest, we have had literally months to prepare for every possible scenario for schools reopening this fall, and yet it still feels like we are rushing to figure out and implement policy before our doors open August 5,” he continued. “It only took a week for the originally published plan to be amended by the board. How many times will it change until schools open in a few weeks? Trust me, I understand that the situation that we are in is constantly changing and policy should be updated as needed, but all of our options should have been clearly laid out on the table much earlier to allow time to prepare to reopen safely. Looking back, we could have spent the summer preparing and training teachers for e-learning if, and likely when, schools are shut down again and taking similar action to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which we appear to be walking right into as cases of the virus climb. Even if we don’t like to admit it, we knew the current situation we are in was a possibility, and we should have spent more time preparing for all possible outcomes for a safe reopening.
“The current plan also leaves many, many questions unanswered,” Seibert said. “What happens when the first student tests positive for COVID-19? What about teachers who are exposed to the virus and need to quarantine? Are they being paid for the time needed to self-isolate? How does our student attendance policy change with the pandemic? What happens to morale when, God forbid, a student or member of our staff catches and dies from the coronavirus? Obviously, these are very uncomfortable questions, but they are ones that need to be answered before we open our doors.”
This fall, Seibert is going to attend IU at Bloomington with his endgame being he would like to eventually go to law school and become a lawyer. At IU, he plans to have a double major in economics and Spanish.
“Beyond law school, I am not sure where I will exactly end up, but I am prepared to go with the flow and see where life takes me,” Seibert said.
While he is running for school board at 18, Seibert said he does not see himself as a career politician.
“Despite what I have heard from some people, I don’t see my bid for school board as a springboard into some life-long political career,” Seibert said. “While being civically engaged is hugely important, that is in an entirely different ballgame from being a lifelong politician. Like I said before, I am running this cycle to bring a new set of ideas and thinking to the board and to give back to the schools that helped shape me into who I am today.”
While he will be in Bloomington, Seibert has devised options where he can remain in constant contact with constituents and FCCSC.
“Even before I decided on running for school board, I planned on still being active and present in our community while I was in college,” Seibert said. “I will be in town frequently where I hope constituents will be comfortable sharing information and problems they may be having with me. I also plan on maintaining an active Facebook page and maybe a newsletter informing constituents about proposals I plan on introducing to the board, and I will always be just a phone call or email away to anyone that needs me.”
Seibert wanted to address his age and the fact he is running for school board.
“I would like to address some issues people might be having with a candidate that may be a little younger than candidates that typically run,” Seibert said. “First, experience: While some may worry that I am lacking in this department, I would argue that I actually have a lot of experience where it matters, in communicating with a stakeholders, organizing programs and events, and more. I’ve honed these skills greatly during the last four years, and I have demonstrated time and time again my work ethic and determination to learn new things quickly when needed. I promise that I will use this same drive for the betterment of our schools.
“Second, I think people may be nervous about (my) commuting between Bloomington and Brookville, which is a reasonable concern. It is important for people to know that other members of the board routinely travel back home during trips for board meetings and other events, and some members have even traveled back from Florida to attend meetings and other functions. I plan on still being very active in our community during my time in college, and I promise I will be able to make the quick drive up from Bloomington to attend meetings, meet with constituents, and events in the community. I also think living in Bloomington and being integrated into the IU community could be advantageous to the board as well, due to the fact that I will be able to network with interesting people there and bring back new ideas and opportunities for the corporation.”
Seibert is running for the Second District seat on the board. The Second District includes townships of Blooming Grove, Fairfield, and Brookville 4 and 5. Registered voters in those precincts are the only ones who can vote for that candidate.
From the Franklin County Health Department via FC Public Health Nurse Angie Ruther with the last paragraph added by John Estridge
Franklin County has had 60 new COVID cases this month. This is the biggest spike EVER.
It is more important than ever to please social distance, wash your hands, disinfect frequently, and wear your mask while in public.
To add to the press release, according to the Indiana Department of Health website, the number of COVID-19 cases in Franklin County increased by six from Tuesday, July 28 to Wednesday, July 29. There are now 181 positive test results in the county since the IDH started tracking the virus. That is an increase of more than 3 percent in one day. The death total for the county remains at eight.
And the 60 positive case reported by IDH in July for Franklin County, is an increase of almost 50 percent of the several months’ total up to July 1, (121).
Water will temporarily be off north of Pence Road through the town of Metamora. A 48-hour voluntary water boil for affected areas when water is restored.
Provided by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department
July 17
At 4:10 a.m., Paul Smith, Harrison Brookville Road, West Harrison, was operating a vehicle north on U.S. 52 and failed to navigate a slight turn in the road and struck a Cincinnati Bell utility pole. Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Dylan Enzinger investigated the accident.
July 20
At 7:05 a.m., Christopher Wilkerson, South Bath Springs Road, Liberty, was operating a vehicle on Indiana 101. Wilkerson said he got on the side of the road a little too far and was pulled in by the gravel on the side of the road. He then over-corrected and ended up on the other side of the road, hitting a hillside and a concrete ditch, causing damage to his vehicle. FCSD Deputy Jeremy Noah investigated the accident.
July 24
At 10:10 p.m. Melissa Heidtmann, Cincinnati Ohio was traveling north on Whtcomb Road and was approaching the intersection with Oxford Pike. She failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection and struck a pickup in the left mid to rear of the truck. The pickup was operated by Steve Ross, Big Cedar Road, Cedar Grove and was traveling west on Oxford Pike. The pickup spun counterclockwise as a result of the accident, going off the road and hitting a building before coming to rest 30 feet from the building. FC Sheriff Peter Cates investigated the accident.
July 26
At 2:55 a.m., Cameron Watters, Trace Branch Road, Metamora, was traveling north on Rosfeld Road. He approached the intersection of Rosfeld Road and Pine Road and had brake failure at the intersection. He continued through the intersection until stopping in the ditch on the north side of the road. FCSD Deputy Kyle Hartman investigated the accident.
At 6:34 a.m., Chantel Husband, Muncie, was operating a vehicle north on U.S. 52 when a deer ran onto the road and Husband was unable to miss the deer. FCSD Deputy Brad Ramey investigated the accident.
July 27
At 1:14 a.m., Lauryn Dessauer, Holland Road, Brookville, was operating a vehicle north on Ind. 101 and Dessauer struck a deer on the road. It was investigated by FCSD Sgt. Adam Henson.
At 7:56 a.m., Nathaniel Kling, Dick Road, Harrison, Ohio, was operating a vehicle north on U.S. 52 when he started to go around a slight curve, and he lost steering to his vehicle. It ran off the road and into a ditch. FCSD Deputy Brad Ramey investigated the accident.
