TPS pre-K, kindergarten students return to the classroom Monday

Prekindergarteners and kindergarteners became the first TPS students to transition from distance learning to in-person instruction for the second quarter of the 2020-21 school year. Next week, they’ll be joined by those from first through third grades, followed by fourth, fifth and sixth graders in elementary schools in three weeks.

The same day Tulsa pre-K and kindergarten students stepped foot inside their schools and met their teachers face-to-face for the first time, high-schoolers in Bixby and Broken Arrow began a two-week transition to distance learning due to COVID spikes in their cities.

Gist said she remains anxious about the growing infection rates throughout the suburban districts as well as the rest of the state. If the pandemic continues to worsen, the Tulsa district could end up switching back to distance learning.

But at the same time, Gist isn’t too worried about this week’s return of students due to the lower transmission rates involving young children and schools.

“We’re very concerned about the numbers increasing in Oklahoma,” Gist said. “I spoke with (Tulsa Health Department Director Bruce) Dart yesterday, and we talked about it, and we’re all watching it very closely.

“He’s been sharing with us, and we’ve been seeing in the data from the surrounding districts that the community numbers are continuing to increase — and that is absolutely going to have an impact on our schools if our community does not get that under control.

“With that said, it does not appear that the virus is spreading within school communities, and that’s primarily because of the safety practices that are happening within our buildings.”

One of the largest problems moving forward, Gist said, is the elevated staffing issues for substitute teachers and bus drivers. There’s always a shortage of substitutes, but this year the problem is on another level.

The district has only about a quarter of the substitutes, who often are retirees, it does in normal years. Gist and other administrators, in addition to some school board members, are volunteering to substitute each week to help make up for the deficit.

Perennial shortages among bus drivers could lead to major consequences if any become infected in the coming months.

Bixby Public Schools closed its high school for the next two weeks shortly after one bus driver tested positive for COVID-19 and other seven were quarantined.

Tulsa Public Schools is asking families with access to transportation to drive their children to school to limit the number of students on school buses.

“That’s both because there may be a point in which we’re going to have different changes than what’s offered from a transportation perspective,” Gist said, “but it’s also because the fewer children we have on the bus, the more we can space students out, which of course is a safety precaution.”

Gist said Tulsa Public Schools is likely the only district in Oklahoma and one of the few in the country to launch a pilot COVID-19 rapid testing program, which is possible due to a partnership with the Tulsa Health Department. The service will be available to employees and middle, junior and high school students when they return in January.

The goals are to identify cases, reduce infection rates and keep educators in the classroom.

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