REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — As the start of the 2020 school year inches closer, many school leaders are making tough calls in the name of safety for students.
10TV talked with Reynoldsburg City Schools about their plans, as they were one of the first districts in Franklin County to announce a full virtual return for students.
Superintendent Melvin Brown tells 10TV that he is keeping a close eye on the number of COVID-19 cases in the community.
"In working with the Health Department, we know we want to see four to six weeks of consistent declines in cases and infections," Brown said. "Once we see that four to six weeks process come into play, then we can have some discussions about what it would look like to bring kids in person."
Regardless of learning method this year, Brown believes the pandemic will create permanent changes for education.
"Me and a number of my colleagues, we've talked ad nauseam about the fact that once we come out of this pandemic, education should look very different," he said. "We should be using this as an opportunity to improve upon our practice and do some things very differently in an innovative fashion that really allows us to reach all kids and to generally do so."
With numbers and facts about the pandemic continuously shifting, Brown says it's important to remain patient.
"I know there are a lot of questions – we have a lot of questions ourselves. We can't have all those answers today. We've gotta watch things play out," Brown said. "We've gotta put pieces together; we've got to build this plane while it's in the air and a lot of questions simply just can't be answered today, so I would just beg patience and understanding as we navigate this."
To read more about Reynoldsburg City Schools' reopening plans, click here.