Post Falls School Board has special meeting tonight at 5

POST FALLS — The Post Falls School District Board of Trustees is holding a special meeting at 5 tonight in River City Middle School to discuss a preliminary draft reopening plan for the 2020-2021 school year.

The district surveyed families and staff at the beginning of July, the results of which were shared at the July 10 board meeting.

Superintendent Dena Naccarrato said 67% of respondents wanted schools to open as normal or with a remote option for those who don't feel comfortable; about 15 percent wanted a modified schedule; almost 7% wanted schools to open completely remotely; and close to 9% were undecided at the time with about 2% answering they don't intend to send their students to school in person in the fall.

Regarding masks, 44.3% said their kids would not wear them; 36.4% said they would; and 19.2 were undecided.

"Obviously, it's different right now. There was no mandate for masks when we surveyed parents," Naccarrato said Tuesday. "I think the new information may have swayed some of them one way or another. Now they may answer the survey completely different than they did at the beginning of July."

The survey asked about transportation and recognizing how social distancing is not possible on buses. Close to 71% of parents whose children ride the bus said they would have their kids wear masks, while 29.2% said they would not.

The additional comments section was 47 pages long, Naccarrato said.

During the special meeting, the school board may take action on a preliminary reopening plan, she said, "recognizing it's a fluid document."

"We're not determining which color we're reopening in," she said. "We don't know. Five weeks from now, the situation could be completely different than it is today."

She said basically, the board is looking at a district plan from "a 30,000-foot view," then principals will meet Monday to begin putting together plans for their buildings since each school is different.

"If this preliminary plan is approved, we’re not green right now, and I don’t think we’re red right now, so which middle are we in?" Naccarrato said.

Post Falls has been working with Lakeland and Coeur d'Alene school districts on reopening because "when one of us makes that call, we're all going to be affected," she said.