Kingfisher Supt. Jason Sternberger wrote this statement in an email Monday evening to school board members:

“This is uncharted territories for all of us.”

His statement expressed the sentiment of most administrators in the wake of a vote by the state school board to close all public schools through April 6 to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The state school board, which includes Kingfisher resident Kurt Bollenbach, voted 4-0 in an emergency meeting to approve State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister’s recommendation for a mandatory statewide closure of all public schools, effective immediately.

“This is a dynamic situation — very fluid — it changes by the hour and we need to keep pace with those developments and we are committed to doing that,” Hofmeister said during the meeting.

While no one under the age of 18 has been among the 10 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Oklahoma as of Monday, the apparent concern is that students may still contribute to the spread of the disease by carrying the virus from infected homes.

Even so, the Center for Disease Control issued recommendations last week advising that other containment measures like hand-washing and home isolation have more impact on spread of the disease.

“In other countries, those places who closed school (e.g. Hong Kong) have not had more success in reducing spread than those that did not (e.g. Singapore),” according to a CDC document entitled “Considerations for School Closure.”

An unintended consequence of mandatory school closure already developing in Colorado is a child care crisis — a struggle for any parent of school-age children, but particularly concerning for parents who are also critical medical personnel.

Hofmeister said in Monday’s emergency meeting that her department is aware of that concern but offered no immediate solutions.

The state department of education order includes a ban on all instructional and extracurricular activities, however essential services such as administrative, clerical, custodial and maintenance services will continue.

Certified employees (teachers) can be paid for work that has already been completed but for which they have not been paid and certified employees may be required to report to work in order to continue to receive pay and benefits, according to an email sent to school districts by the Oklahoma State School Board Association.

Districts also were advised by the OSSBA to find opportunities for hourly support staff “to assist with needed work - cleaning buildings, preparing-delivering lunches, filing paperwork, answering phone calls, etc.”

Districts also were advised that the school board association is “continuing to seek a solution to ensure employees are paid if there comes a time when employees are not allowed to come to work.”

The state school board is expected to meet again later this month to formally approve instructional time waivers so schools will not be required to make up missed days.

“Learning is secondary to all of this, but learning is on our minds as well,” Hofmeister said at the emergency meeting, which was broadcast on a live internet feed.

She also said that the question of how mandatory school testing will be impacted is a “top priority question” which will be addressed at the next board meeting.

The SDE was scheduled to hold a teleconference with state school superintendents Tuesday to answer specific questions and most county superintendents were planning to meet with their principals after to hammer out exactly how the closure will work in each district.

“We don’t have a ton of details yet,” Okarche Supt. Rob Friesen told the Times &Free Press Monday evening.

Tech Ed Affected

Chisholm Trail Technology Center Supt. Max Thomas said his school and the state’s other 29 career tech center campuses also will be closed until April 6.

Career tech superintendents are working on addressing unique issues such as ensuring their adult and high school students are able to complete hours required for their particular program certification and that financial aid is not jeopardized, Thomas said.

“All our staff members except for instructors will meet Monday to discuss our operational and custodial plan during the closure,” Thomas said.

Keeping Kids Fed

The education department announced earlier Monday that it had received waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow school districts already participating in summer food service programs to continue to provide breakfast and lunch to qualifying children during the closure.

Thomas, who also serves as Dover’s superintendent, said “grab and go” breakfast and lunch bags containing ready-to-eat food would be available at Dover beginning next Monday for any students whose parents call the school office to request them.

Sternberger said his building counselors have a texting system in place for families who need food for children when school isn’t in session, utilizing the school’s food pantry.

The city of Kingfisher also has offered to assist with preparing and delivering meals, if necessary, City Manager Dave Slezickey said.

Friesen said Okarche will be providing meals for students qualifying for free and reduced lunches and would figure out exactly how that will work in coming days.

Other superintendents said they are exploring ways to ensure students are fed and local churches and individuals are volunteering to help with that effort.

Kingfisher Ministerial Alliance was developing a feeding plan at press time and more details will be available in Sunday’s Times and Free Press.

Extracurricular Events

The mandatory closure includes all extracurricular activities of any kind, including athletic practices, games, parties, contests, meetings and special events such as proms and school plays and productions.

Okarche and Kingfisher have their junior-senior proms scheduled during the closure which at this time are expected to be postponed rather than canceled.

Hennessey Public Schools has rescheduled its high school production of the Broadway musical “Newsies” from the first week in April to a May date to be announced.

Administrators said they are mindful of the impact the closure is having on students, particularly seniors who are already reeling from the disruption of other capstone events in their school careers, including the yet-to-be-rescheduled state basketball tournament and the canceled Oklahoma Youth Expo.

“I too do not like the fact that many kids are having a memory taken from them that they cannot get back, but they (state department of education rules) are ones that we must follow in order to get through this,” Sternberger wrote in his email to local school board members.

“At the end of the day, we want to do everything we can to keep everyone as safe as we can,” Friesen said.