Canal Winchester Messenger - January 23rd, 2022

PAGE 12 - MESSENGER - January 23, 2022
www.columbusmessenger.com
Schools continue to adjust to COVID challenges
By Linda Dillman
Staff Writer
Canal Winchester Schools Superintendent
James Sotlar is pleased with the district’s
roll-out of a new transportation plan
to combat a lack of bus drivers, but continues
to hope to return to normal operations
as soon as possible.
During the Jan. 10 Canal Winchester
Board of Education meeting, the first day of
the new plan where start and stop times for
school buildings were changed, Sotlar said
the plan, overall, “went pretty good.”
The high school, middle school, and Winchester
Trail are now on a one-hour early
dismissal and Indian Trail is on a one hour
late start.
Parents with students at the elementary
schools are being accommodated by either
doors opening early for drop-offs at Indian
Reynolds is trustee chair
Madison Township Trustee Michele
Reynolds will officiate the next Madison
Township trustee meeting for the first time
as board chair on Jan. 20.
Madison Township voters elected
Reynolds in 2019. She has experience as a
business owner and public servant working
in the governor’s office as the director of
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
“I am honored to serve my community in
Trail or staying open after the final bell at
Winchester Trail for late pick-ups.
“We had about 65 students participating
in the morning at Indian Trail,” said Sotlar,
who said 25 to 35 parents took advantage of
the program at Winchester Trail. It (new
plan) is not the ideal situation we want to
be in, but my goal is to maintain in-person
learning on a consistent schedule…it keeps
our parents and our students on a consistent
schedule.”
Sotlar said the district will stay on the
new schedule through the end of February
when the situation will be re-evaluated.
“We’ll see what happens for March,” said
Sotlar, who sent out an email earlier this
month asking families to be prepared in
case the district is forced to go on remote
learning due to staff shortages. “We’re down
bus drivers. That’s why we’re on this new
schedule. We just have to be prepared and
this capacity,” said Reynolds. “In spite of the
perils of COVID-19, we have made great
strides to bring resources into the township
for safety improvements. Being elected as
chair affords me the opportunity to achieve
more of these wins for residents.”
Reynolds is referring to the Justice Assistance
Grant dollars Madison Township
was awarded from Ohio Criminal Justice
Services to upgrade the computer server for
the police department.
Reynolds serves alongside Katherine
give as much notice as we possibly can, but
I can’t tell you when morning comes how
many people might call off sick for various
reasons.”
Sotlar said he will do his best to get the
word out in advance, but notification could
be as late as the next morning of school. He
urged everyone to be prepared just in case.
According to the district’s Jan. 2022 online
COVID-19 Mask Metric Dashboard,
even though the number of cases during December
fell below the individual building
threshold of 1.25 percent, the average
throughout the district exceeded 0.5 percent
of the total student population resulting in
a districtwide mask required mandate.
Individual building cases of the virus are
monitored on a weekly basis to determine
COVID-19 averages for the following month
in determining the district or individual
building mask mandate. The data from Jan.
Chipps, who is vice chair, and Laurie Vermeer,
who is the township fiscal officer,
which marks the first time three women will
partner in leadership as elected officials for
Madison Township.
Reynolds and Chipps serve with their fellow
trustee John Pritchard.
The Madison Township trustees invites
residents of the township to make their
voices heard about the needs of the community
in their meetings.
The next trustee meeting is Jan. 20 at 6
5-28 determines the mask status for February.
Data for Jan.31-Feb. 25 determines the
status for March. Feb. 28-Mar. 25 determines
the status for April and data for April
4-29 determines the mask status for May.
Masks will be recommended for the following
month if the average number of positive
cases is less than 0.5 percent of the
student population. Masks will be required
if the number of positive cases is greater
than 0.5 percent–20 or more student cases
on average.
In December, the cumulative number for
all four buildings was 23 cases.
Notification will be sent out before the
beginning of the next month of the upcoming
mask status, which is also posted at the
top of the district’s website at
www.cwschools.org.
p.m. at the township offices, 4575 Madison
Lane, Groveport.
To view a schedule of future meetings,
visit MadisonTownship.org/board-meetings.
GriefShare group
Groveport United Methodist Church, 512
Main St., sponsors a GriefShare group commencing
Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. Register online at
www.griefshare.org/groups/144263.Email
groveportgriefsharegroup@gmail.com for information.
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6441 Winchester Blvd. E., Canal Winchester, OH 43110 614-963-3827