Students, staff return to class at Clark-Shawnee in new, remodeled buildings

CLARK COUNTY — In addition to being back to school full time this year, students at Clark-Shawnee Local Schools have even more changes as they had back to class today.

Students can expect a new elementary school and a newly renovated middle and high school. They will also encounter new COVID-19 policies that will be similar to nearby Springfield City Schools and other Miami Valley districts such as Kettering and Springboro, masks are not required.

Superintendent Brian Kuhn said, “We’re excited to back to school and back together.” He continued and said, “Right now, there is no state mandate for masks. Our families have always been partners in their child’s education, and they get to make the decision for their children on whether their kids come to school with masks or not.”

>> Back to School: Start dates, mask policies & virtual plans for local districts

On Tuesday, Gov. Mike DeWine pleaded with districts and families to use masks in school.

DeWine said, “The best way to ensure is to wear a mask in class.”

Since then, some school districts have tweaked their mask policies. Beavercreek Schools are now requiring children in Kindergarten through sixth grade to mask up.

News Center 7 asked Supt. Kuhn if their mask policy would change down the road. He said, “We are looking at all data points, comments from the governor, stats from the Ohio Department of Health, local and state data. We’ll look at all that and make the best decisions we can for our students.”

School officials said one thing that won’t change is social distancing and cleaning. Those protocols will remain in place at Clark-Shawnee.

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“We’re still working to get maximized social distancing between desks in the classroom – 3 feet wherever possible. Our goal has been to do whatever we can where we can to prevent the spread of COVID,” Supt. Kuhn said. He continued by saying, “It’s going to look more normal, but we’re taking precautions.”

While teachers and the district continue to take precautions, students at the elementary school will have the next couple of days to adjust to those new policies and their new school.

Students in grades first through sixth with the last names A through L returned to class.

Supt. Kuhn said, “This is returning to learning after the pandemic year and we’re in a new building, so we have to learn where the new bathrooms are, new lunch processes, where everything is and we want our teachers to be able to do that with half their class each of the first two days.”

Students in grades first through sixth with last names M through Z will get acclimated with the new building on Friday. Kindergarten starts next week.

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