Yes, Parents Want to Go Green.

JUSTIN J. Editor: Mary-Anne B., Contributing Writer

The plan to go “Code Green” is already happening at JC Booth Middle School as The sixth-grade class went back to 4 days per week on September 28th.

Fayette County Board of Education had a plan for students to return gradually to 5 days a week, which is code green, by the end of October. 

JC Booth started out 2 weeks later than the original start date of August 10th on Code Yellow. This is a combination of both virtual and face to face learning. The face to face instruction occurs with a small group of students two days a week.  Parents had mixed feelings about it. “I would have been happier if school could have started on ‘Code Green’, but sadly increasing positive cases made that unsafe,” said Holly O’Clair, JC Booth parent. 

Other parents like Athena Frederick said, “I was very much in favor of school getting back to Brick and Mortar. I think the way they did it was a good idea just to gradually have kids come back and to split the school into groups. I think it was a smart plan.”

Fayette County intends to monitor the number of students and faculty diagnosed with Covid-19.  The plan is to return to code green if there is not a high increase in diagnoses of Covid Virus.

 According to the parents, some students have done well with hybrid learning, while some have struggled. “I feel my students have adapted and made the ‘Code Yellow’ schedule work, but as a parent, I have concerns about how much learning has actually taken place,” said Holly O’Clair. “I think that the challenge has been more with the new technology from Schoology,” Katie Hausner said.

There have been a few cases of COVID-19 at JC. Booth. However, most parents think it is time to transition to Code Green. Amy Kelso said, “I feel Booth is ready to go Code Green due to the successful start of the school year and lack of increase in cases.” 

 “I am cautiously optimistic that Booth is ready to move to Code Green. My hopes are one of a semblance of normalcy can return to us with minimal risk,” 8th-grade parent Doug Sturbaum said.

 Parents feel that Fayette County made the right decision. The overall consensus was to return to a five-day school week. “It is understandable that we need to be cautious but living in fear and not resuming normal routines will have a far greater impact psychologically on our children,”  Shannon Curtin said,

JC Booth has done a good job enforcing the plan that Fayette County had in place to encourage everyone to wear a mask correctly, wash hands frequently, and social distance as much as possible. The parents are hopeful that this success will continue once all students have returned. “I think the Fayette County Board of Education has done a great job. It’s never easy having to accommodate so many people with so many concerns on so many levels,”  Laura-Lyn Preble said.