Thanks to the coronavirus, it’s nowhere near business as usual at Tracy schools these days
By Per Peterson
There are no tumbleweeds dancing from wall to wall. Crickets cannot be heard chirping. And it’s doubtful one could hear a pin drop.
Still, there is nothing but silence in the halls of Tracy Area High School this week.
As of today (March 25), students haven’t graced the halls of any school in Tracy for 10 days — that includes two days of spring break (March 12-13) and eight days of a state-mandated school suspension because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Tracy Area Public Schools Supt. Chad Anderson said Monday that although the future of the 2019-20 school year has yet to be determined, he is working on the assumption that distance learning will begin on Monday, March 30. That means what the remainder of the school year looks like is anyone’s guess.
“Because they’re giving everyone two weeks to prepare for distance learning, I feel that we will start (distance learning) on Monday,” Anderson said.
Although the school halls are now quiet, school employees have kept busy — not just working with their own kids, but helping out wherever needed. And various employees have continued to work, taking care of the day-to-day business of the school district.
School lunches continue to be delivered at drop-off points — that process began March 18. Two days later, teachers and staff filled school buses with school supplies to be sent home to the students. And on Tuesday of this week, teachers and paras made a second delivery to all homes in grades kindergarten through grade 12 that included computers (Chromebooks) for students in grades 2-6 and school supplies for all students for quarter 4 as the school district prepares for distance learning. The teachers delivered school work for one month’s worth of materials and supplies in case the school shut down lasts longer than anticipated. The materials are for the start of Quarter 4 on March 30.
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.