Plan A, Plan B, Plan . . . Z? Schools trying to predict future that's impossible to know

It almost goes without saying, but Recommendation No. 1 in the state’s recent advice to school districts on how to run summer school is: “Maximum flexibility.”

And with a horizon before them of required six-foot spacing, 10-percent room capacities, protections for employees, liability concerns and the specter of rebounding waves of infections, expect the same come the start of the next school year in August.

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These are the things school district cabinet members are talking about:

Do you open school in staggered shifts? Rotating schedules? Is it even financially feasible to keep class sizes to 10?

What if classes open but some frightened parents refuse to send their children? What about teachers and support staff who feel unsafe? What if someone falls ill and a family sues?

Can districts make virtual summer school mandatory to speed catching up on so much lost instruction? Is it asking too much of students to keep home-bound virtual school going through summer? Is it asking too much of parents?

Are districts ready to continue virtually in the fall, or blend online learning with classroom instruction? How does home-bound schooling carry on when the imbalance between children in Internet-supported homes and unsupported homes remains stark?

The Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City recently conducted a survey of its members on their scheduling plans and programming strategies, and the results, said executive director Kenny Southwick, “were all over the board.”

The Missouri School Boards’ Association’s Center for Education Safety has accumulated an information guide trying to tackle so much uncertainty — all in 96 pages.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas last week announced the city’s phased reopening plan beginning May 15 that will limit public gatherings to 10 or fewer people in small settings, 10 percent of a room’s capacity in larger settings, and no more than 50 in outdoor public gatherings — all with the overarching requirement of six feet of social distancing.

How long that lasts depends on the unpredictable progress of COVID-19 infections and the city’s capacity to test for the virus and track people who come into contact with infected persons.

Still, districts have to plan, and that means contingency plans. And contingency plans on top of contingency plans.

Schools are facing the reality that when lessons resume in the fall — whatever shape they take — educators have to deal with the question of where to begin? Do you pick up trying to recover what was lost in the spring? Go straight to the new lesson year? Do more students repeat their previous grade year? There’s no right answer there either.

Everyone already has had to unravel and re-imagine the ceremonial end of the 2019-2020 school year. Several of LINC’s partnering school districts are hopeful they will be able to hold outdoor high school graduations in late June or July. But even that’s uncertain. Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools are taking their ceremonies to a drive-in movie theater.

That’s some flexibility.