August 4, 2020

School district rolls out Restart draft plan

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City students will be able to attend classes in person this fall under a draft Restart Plan that the McKenzie County Public School District released last week. But the plan is also offering parents the option of electing to have their children take classes remotely if they so desire.
According to Steve Holen, district superintendent, the draft plan has three different models depending on whether or not any students or teachers have tested positive for COVID-19 or there is an outbreak of the virus within the school district.
“We really want to have our students in school under any of the three models, if possible,” states Holen. “We want our schools open. We’d rather have students in school with masks than to have our schools closed.”
Holen says that the school board approved the draft Restart Plan after conducting surveys of parents and teachers.
“Of the 610 survey responses that we received, 52.1 percent said they wanted a full school opening,” states Holen. “Another 37.9 percent said their decision would be made depending on the plan, while 5 percent said they preferred not to have in-person school and 5 percent indicated they wanted other options.”

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