As COVID-19 pandemic continues, West Valley school district comes up with plan on new school year in the fall

PHOENIX - School districts across the Valley are scrambling this summer to get ready for a new normal that is coming during the fall: teaching during a pandemic.

According to a recently released national survey, one in five teachers and six out of 10 students don’t plan to come back to school in the fall, because they don’t feel safe.

"It’s a question that everybody’s asking: is what your plan," said Quinn Kellis, Superintendent for Dysart School District.

In the Northwest Valley, Dysart may be ahead of most, having announced a new plan for the new school year that one could call "the tale of two schools under one roof," with parents, teachers and students basically falling into one of two groups: ones ready to get back to school, and ones who are not there just yet.

Kellis finds himself as a kind of administrative science professor during a pandemic, with a plan that offers two options for his 24,000 students, starting August 4: dace-to-face learning in a sanitized social distanced classroom where masks are optional, or in an expanded, K-12, rigorous online courses, with an option to change the setting.

Parents who responded to a FOX 10 Phoenix Facebook post on the topic are basically in two camps, with some saying their kids are ready to get back to school, and some who are torn, but say if schools aren’t safe, kids shouldn’t be there.

All the superintendent can do is read the room, do the math, and hope his district comes up with the best answer.

Dysart will offer online courses to any student from any district, and all of it is certified by the state. They will also have an online discussion about the fall semester, on Facebook, on June 16.