Ellsworth school district to lay plans for remainder of school year

Ellsworth-Kanopolis-Geneseo School District Superintendent Dale Brungardt said Tuesday that administrators and staff will work next week to plan the rest of the school year in the wake of an announcement earlier in the day that all Kansas school facilities will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

Brungardt said the news from Gov. Laura Kelly was somewhat confusing in the sense that learning will continue — it just won’t be in the traditional way.
The Ellsworth School District is on spring break this week.
“We’re closing schools as schools looked before spring break,” Brungardt said.
In a response posted on the district website in response to Kelly’s announcement, Brungardt wrote that Kansas districts are expected to receive guidance from the Kansas State Department of Education on “the new school format.”
That will allow them to move forward with plans suited to their individual situations.
“With the provided guidance, teachers and administrators will work on three different possible delivery methods for our students, which will continue to their learning opportunities.”
Those are: on-line learning, packet learning, a combination or, in the interview with the I-R, Brungardt said it’s possible small groups of fewer than 10 students — the limit mentioned by President Trump Monday during a press conference — could meet to continue their studies.
“How this will truly look for USD 327 is still unknown and that will be the task of our staff as they return from spring break next week,” Brungardt.
“Our staff and board of education are also working on other critical issues, such as what this means to our seniors, prom, concerts, how this will affect next school year and what impact this will have on our employees.”