Will public schools really reopen Aug. 12, and will there be a format change?
Those are questions Grant Swallows has heard as he prepares to take the reins and become Warren County’s new director of schools on Friday.
“Our first priority out of the gate is to determine what schools will look like in Warren County in August,” said Swallows during Warren County’s weekly coronavirus press conference on Tuesday.
Swallows says he doesn’t have a clear picture yet and he will convey that information as soon as decisions are made.
There’s still the 2019-20 school year to finish and outgoing Director of Schools Bobby Cox provided more information about the June 6 prom and June 12 graduation ceremony. Cox said the prom will be held outdoors at WCHS in the area in front of the gym.
“That will really give us a lot of room to spread out,” said Cox. “My hope is that it doesn’t rain.”
Students are being allowed to sign up for time slots on when to attend the prom. No more than 100 students will be allowed at once.
As for graduation at Nunley Stadium, Cox said the scheduled date is Friday, June 12 at 7 p.m. The rain date is Saturday, June 13 at 7 p.m. at Nunley Stadium. If both those days are rained out, WCHS graduation will be held Sunday at 1 p.m. at the WCHS gym.
Reopening questions were the theme at Tuesday’s press conference. Parks and Recreation assistant director Justin Scott says a decision has not been made about when to open Gilley Pool.
“One of my biggest concerns is social distancing,” said Scott. “Gilley Pool has an 800-person capacity and we’ve reached that several times. We have several counties who commute to Warren County just to use our pool so there are precautions we have to take.”
Mayor Ben Newman mentioned concerns about what to do about seating at the pool. He said it’s impractical to expect pool employees to disinfect the lounge chairs surrounding the pool every time a visitor leaves. One idea is having visitors bring their own chairs.
Newman also said city officials have been considering how to proceed with the annual Fourth of July celebration.
NHC administrator Ben Holland said every patient and partner at the nursing home has been tested for COVID-19. Those results were received Monday and there are no positive coronavirus cases at NHC.
As for when NHC may reopen to visitors, Holland said, “Nursing homes will be in Phase 3 and we’ll probably wait till the latter end of Phase 3 because we have the most vulnerable population.”
