INDIANAPOLIS — The start to the upcoming school year will be unlike any other as district leaders across the state try to find balance between providing a quality in-person education and keeping people safe.
"I think if you talk to any superintendent they will tell you this is the most challenging opening of schools that they have ever experienced in their career and probably will," Dr. Jeff Butts, superintendent of Wayne Township schools, said.
School leaders are starting to release information about how they plan to start the year. Some districts will be returning to the classroom. Some will be completely virtual. Others are doing a combination of the two.
Butts said Wayne Township is offering both options and they've pushed the start date back two weeks.
Some said they wish the state provided more guidance or set standards for how school districts should start the year, but Gov. Eric Holcomb said that could vary county by county.
"If I had a bias it is toward home rule and local control and understanding that they know their situation the best, not only the physical building but what they are capable to pull off inside and the plan that they have," Holcomb said.
Holcomb said it's important to get kids back to the classroom.
"Yes we are going to put a premium on lives but it also is about our livelihood and this includes the way our kids are instructed and what they learn and what we don't want there to be loss there just because we are all going through this for the first time," Holcomb said.
"We talked about the yin and yang, the balance of giving us the guidance necessary to be able to open safely but at the same time being respective of individual communities," Butts said.
Dr. Kris Box, the Indiana State Health Commissioner, said the state likely won't provide mandates for schools unless counties start seeing a major spike in cases or if the county positivity rate climbs to around 10 percent.
