Hennessey School Superintendent Dr. Mike Woods said school will start Aug. 6 as “normal as we can” and “provide proper precautions” due to the COVID-19 virus.

“As we all know, the numbers are going up,” Woods said in his announcement this week.

Since this problem “deals with the whole community,” Woods asks for parents and others for their feedback in dealing with those issues.

“Don’t put it on Facebook,” he said. “There is a problem with the Facebook page and I don’t like it anyhow. Email me at mwoods@hps.k12.ok.us.”

The plan is for a regular school day as much as possible and the district will run the bus routes, he said.

“The primary ways of dealing with the virus is by distancing and with masks, so one way we are dealing with that is on the school bus.

“We’re asking that everyone wear a mask when on a bus,” he said. “Family groups should stay together, sit together, on the bus until they get to school.”

Woods said they have made plans to “keep the kids safe” and will work to detect students and staff who may have the virus; isolate those students, and provide instruction for quarantined students.

“We faced a little bit of this last year in dealing with some students being unable to connect to the internet for classes and we need to address that in a much better way than we did.

“In athletics we will also need to deal with students from other schools who’ve tested positive for the virus,” he said. “Are we going to play that night?

“Give me your thoughts,” he said. “I look forward to hearing from you.”