Haywood County Schools announce reopening plans for upcoming school year

HAYWOOD COUNTY, Tenn. — For students who attend the Haywood County School System, many changes are expected to take place when schools re-open on August 17.

Haywood County Schools Superintendent Joey Hassell says students will have learning options this school year.

“We are offering our families a choice, they can do in-person or virtual,” Hassell said.

For students that attend in-person, the school system will be following guidelines to ensure social distancing and sanitation procedures.

Grades Pre-K to 12 will be divided into groups, with each following different schedules.

“Our Pre-K [through] 2 students will be in small groups for the first few weeks, and then they’ll scale up to be assigned an even or odd day,” Hassell said.

Grades 3 to 8 will have their days staggered on even and odd days during the months.

High school students will also be divided into groups, so they can limit the amount of students in the building.

“Freshman and sophomore, they will go Monday, Wednesday, Friday,” Hassell said. “Juniors and seniors will go Tuesday and Thursday.”

Hassell says that they’ve received feedback from families in the school district.

During school registration on Wednesday, Hassell says they had 1,808 students registered, or about 67% of their projected K-12 enrollment.

“About 80% of our families want the staggered, in-person schedule that we’re starting with, and roughly 20% want the virtual,” Hassell said. “So that’s been very helpful for us to kind of really lock in where our planning needs to be.”

Hassell says they built plans for re-opening and operations through the guidance of the American Academy of Pediatrics guideline, the Tennessee Department of Health guidance, and the CDC’s re-opening checklist.