JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Jamestown Public Schools have continued to deal with the challenges of COVID-19.
One of the significant challenges of this has been sick students and the lack of substitute teachers and paraprofessionals.
JPS Superintendent Dr. Rob Lech reports that he will continue providing a regular report regarding COVID-19 within the school system on the schools website.
Lech says he hopes these reports, trends, and categories, the school board is able to make adequate decisions for the district.
He added that as they monitor this along with student and teachers health, they are concerned about the lack of substitute teachers and paras.
Dr. Lech says they know what mitigation strategies work for their schools and he encourages the public to join them in those strategies.
“We rely on families to keep ill students home when symptomatic and especially when a child is being tested as we are not notified,” Dr. Lech stated in his report. “We need our families to keep students home when they are symptomatic and especially if they are being tested. If not, the result is more students and potentially staff that are placed in quarantine. If we don’t get improvement in this area, it will eventually need to impact our instructional plan decisions.”
Board member Gayle Nelson stated some concerns with asking University of Jamestown students to take advantage of substitute teaching opportunities amid the pandemic.
Nelson added that staff are feeling guilty if they feel symptomatic and leaving an extra burden for others.
Those interested in becoming a substitute teacher can apply for an interim substitute license with ESPB. Contact Joe Hegland for more information at Joseph.Hegland@k12.nd.us or call 701-252-1950 ext 3805.
Other items discussed during the Monday school board meeting included an update on the shared facility plan, resiliency grant funds and changes to education corp funding, and more.
You can watch the full school board meeting below: