Bourbon Summer School Begins July 13

Bourbon’s summer school will begin July 13 as the district prepares to open its doors for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

As of June 22, there were around 160 students who planned to attend the summer session, which will run through early August.

Superintendent Dr. Kyle Gibbs said they are hoping that number inches closer to 200.

The district is getting a test-run for the 2020-21 school year in the age of COVID-19 and social distancing.

Gibbs, who said summer school will go on “unless something drastic happens,” noted that they are planning as best they can.

“Students will be in larger spaces and spaced out,” he said, adding there will be heavy sanitization. The district has already placed an order for increased sanitation supplies.

Guidelines will be put in place for re-entry if a student is sick.

“We’ll be asking a lot of questions and being extremely cautious,” he said. “If someone in their family is sick at home, we want the student to stay home.”

In a normal year, summer school is incentivized, but in an effort to keep enrollment manageable, Gibbs said they are dropping that. The summer sessions will focus on making up skills that may have been lost or diminished due to two months of virtual learning.

The district wrapped up a round of virtual summer school for high school students in the areas of health and personal finance.

2020-21

Schools and parents around the state are wondering how the 2020-21 year will proceed.

The 2019-20 year was cut short in mid-March. Schools across the state shut down as the pandemic ramped up and shifted to virtual learning.

Gibbs said he has been in contact with health officials and as of June 22, there was no guidance on what a district should do if there is an outbreak on campus.

The Hollister district, located in southwest Missouri, announced a case at its middle school in mid-June. According to KY3, the school shut down Monday, June 15 and reopened its doors the next day after crews scrubbed the building.

“There is no strong consensus on what to do (if there is an outbreak),” Gibbs said. 

In addition to some of the precautions the district is taking with summer school, Bourbon also will look at modifying lunch shifts to reduce the number of students congregating in the cafeteria, keeping students from congregating in common areas before the first bell and avoiding large crowds.

“We plan to minimize contact as much as possible,” Gibbs said. “We’ll be running multiple bus routes to keep them from overcrowding.”

Students in Leasburg could be put on one route.