Back to school for Cameron kids

For the first time in nearly six months, Cameron R-1 School District students returned to regular class last week.

While dozens of students chose to attend class virtually for the fall semester, the remainder returned to class for the first time last Thursday – delayed from last Tuesday due to mechanical issues.

“This is probably the best start I’ve had in the 10 years I’ve been in Cameron,” Superintendent Matt Robinson said. “It was absolutely incredible. I thought the kids were super respectful of what they needed to do to be in school. The parents were very understanding of what we were trying to do as a school district and I thought our staff came ready to go.”

Robinson said it took weeks to prepare all four Cameron R-1 School District campuses for operating under COVID-19 guidelines. As part of its reentry plan, the district will conduct operations as normal, but with a few exceptions. All meal services, including breakfast, will take place inside the classroom. Students will be restricted from using water fountains, instead the school will provide water coolers and disposable cups. In order to better track students infected by COVID-19, students will have assigned seating both in class and during meal service. 

“We’re wearing the masks and spreading the seats out. We’ve given out all types of hand disinfectants,” Robinson said. “We have wipes, different chemicals and we’re still waiting on a couple of backpack sprayers. We have a couple of Clorox sprayers – one we had and one we got last summer. If we end up having a case, we can go in and start spraying rooms down.”

Robinson described the atmosphere on campus as a return to normalcy. Last week, the Cameron High School Softball Team’s game against Lafayette was the first competition held since the state wrestling tournament last February. He credited the resiliency of district staff and faculty as well as the COVID-19 committee, who he said spent countless hours researching and discussing what policies would best meet the needs of Cameron students.

“I can’t complement those people enough. They gave up a lot of summer hours, summer break time to come in and work on what does school look like next year and how are we going to make it happen,” Robinson said. “… Obviously, it worked. We’ve had a great start. It makes me feel good. These kids needed that. They need to be back in school. I’m a firm believer that they needed this mentally as much as they did academically. They needed to be back in school and feel good about everything that is going on.”

Although happy to be back in class, Robinson said nothing is guaranteed this school year. Should the district receive information indicating a potential outbreak, it may require students sixth through 12th to then enter Plan B. As part of Plan B, the district would split middle and high school students into two groups, Group A and Group B, which the district would determine by alphabetical order. While Group A attends class, Group B would take an Alternative Method of Instruction day. Students attending Parkview Elementary School and Cameron Intermediate School would continue attending classes face-to-face, but could see disruption in class if the district opts to take more invasive steps in Plan C and Plan D. 

“I can’t guarantee anything anymore. I’m just happy we can start doing activities. The play practices are start [Wednesday]. Maybe we’re getting back to normal again,” Robinson said. “Well, a new normal but it’s normal. Hopefully we can continue to do it. The kids need it and it makes the school year much richer for the kids. It’s has truly been a phenomenal start.”