Keystone Academy will have no snow days, would go remote

Andrew Roth, National Heritage Academies’ representative at Keystone Academy school board meetings, told the board at its regular virtual meeting Feb. 8 that NHA has decided there will be no snow days this school year.
Roth said two years ago there were so many snow days that it got NHA to thinking. If there is a big snowstorm or loss of electricity or other problem that would have closed school in the past, it will no longer do so.
He said NHA schools will move instead to virtual learning for the snow days rather than having to make up days in the summer.
“It’s effective this year,” Roth said. “If there is a snow day, remote teachers will teach from home.” He said it has been a fairly massive process to get computers for all the students and NHA spent a lot of money on the equipment.
Keystone currently has in-person learning, but students may choose remote learning, if desired.
Keystone Principal Jorvonna Drain said NHA has also decided there will be no sports at this time. She said sharing cars would have to be reinstated, and then there is contact tracing. The car-sharing is dangerous and the contact tracing very time-consuming.
“The tracing I did that one time, took eight hours,” she said.
“Eight different schools [in Keystone’s district] agree,” Principal Drain said. “It’s too much to deal with. We’ll start again in the fall.”
In other business at the 49-minute meeting that was both virtual and in-person, the board:
• Learned there were 674 students registered at Keystone as of Feb. 4. There are no vacancies in staff, Drain said;
• Confirmed in its monthly report to the state that Keystone’s current delivery of instruction method is the in-person model five days a week. Virual education is still offered;
• Discussed the 2021 National Charter Schools Conference that will be virtual this year and, so, it is less expensive at $125 per person. Board funds will be designated for those interested in attending. Those registered will have access to the recordings of the various sessions. Jonathan Arneberg, who slid into Roth’s NHA representative position during this meeting when Roth had to go to another virtual meeting, told the board it can send some staff, as well, if desired. The conference is June 20-23 and registration ends June 1;
• Discussed Dean / Principal Appreciation Week, a last-minute addition to the agenda, and then approved spending $1,250 to honor them. Last year because of COVID, nothing was done for them. The board agreed they would try to get to this by March;
• Agreed the next board meeting will be at 6 p.m., March 11; and
• Allocated $4,000 more for the play structure and learned the new shed was scheduled for installation on Feb. 11.
The meeting was conducted by board treasurer Charlene Derrick in the absence of president Vesta Losen and vice president Darren Hickonbottom.