Jenks Public Schools will start 2020-21 through distance learning, changes first day of school to Aug. 24

The Jenks Public Schools Board of Education was directed to begin the 2020-21 school year through distance learning and to move the first day of school to Aug. 24.

Superintendent Stacey Butterfield authorized the move Monday night in a meeting with the board, which did not vote on the plan presented by district officials.

In seeking ways to have school safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jenks administrators originally had decided to offer three options to families, with students and their parents choosing among in-person, online-only or a blended model for the upcoming school year, which originally was supposed to start Aug. 19. 

Now, families that opted for the blended option or Jenks' virtual program will receive a call from their child’s school to either confirm their initial choice or switch to distance learning, according to the district.

"If you choose for your child to remain in the Trojan Connect Program or the blended option, you are committing to that choice for the full fall semester," the district states. "If you switch to distance learning, your child will attend school in-person once it is safe to do so and the district can transition out of distance learning."

Families that remain undecided will have until Friday to opt into the virtual program or the blended option. For those that take no action, their children will begin the year in distance learning and transition to in-person once it is safe to do so.

More information about the district's new plan will be released during the next few days. 

Jenks Public Schools was the first public school district in the metro area to choose a 100% distance learning mode to start the fall semester, but Tulsa Public Schools' board voted to start the school year through remote instruction later Monday night.

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