Via a Facebook post, the Elkhart Co. Health Dept. has announced another twist in the school reopening plan. The latest information is that schools *can* now choose to open for in-person instruction. This comes one day after the county's superintendents took part in a conference call with the county's health officer and were given the impression that they needed to move to online instruction only through September.
And this comes one week after guidance was released indicating the schools could choose to open for in-person class. The latest order indicates that now schools can choose to offer an in-person option after all.
Multiple school systems in Elkhart County already started to switch gears yet again late Friday. The Superintendent of Elkhart Community Schools, Dr. Steve Thalheimer, said the following in a memo to staff:
"Over the past 24 hours we have been put on a rollercoaster by forces outside our control. To go from being on track to follow our hybrid plan to a detour to online to guidance that our hybrid plan is fine does none of us any good when we are anxious, tired, and worn out from a ferocious 2020. I perfectly understand the whiplash and uncertainty people feel."
(Read more from the health department order below.)
