ROCK SPRINGS — The Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Smart Start Task Force held its first meeting last week as it begins to design plans for re-entry into the new school year beginning August 17.

District Superintendent Kelly McGovern told the Board of Trustees at a special meeting last night that the group’s first step will be seeking public comment on ideas coming out of the task force discussions.

The district shared a ParentSquare this week with a link to the website that has all the documents shared with the task force so far. It will allow parents to view minutes, agendas and ideas coming out of these task force meetings.

“It lists the vision, mission, values and goals of the task force,” McGovern said. “I think it’s important to mention that the response to the task force was overwhelming.”

The first meeting was held in the district board room and set up to show task force members what social distancing would truly look like in an average-sized classroom.

Busses were also set up outside the CAB so members could see how they’d be loaded and how the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines would be implemented.

The district also sent out a survey yesterday for the community to provide feedback and ideas as the task force moves forward.

Safe Guidelines

McGovern said the district will adhere to any safety protocols established by local, state and CDC health officials. She said the district is also researching ways other states are approaching their re-openings. The current orders expire at the end of this week “and that footing for us is changing very quickly,” McGovern said.

The Smart Start Task Force will meet again this afternoon from 4-6 pm. Its agenda will be listed in the link above. The task force plans to have its final meeting and recommendation ready on July 7. An additional meeting has also been tentatively scheduled for July 14 should the task force need more time.

“The idea being that by July 9 we can send that out to our community for public comment and for feedback,” McGovern said. “Then at the July 15th board meeting we would be able to present the work of the task force and then the recommendation I would have moving forward for the re-opening plan.”

McGovern reminded the board and community that the task force isn’t a decision-making group and that “we hear you loud and clear” when it comes to concerns about the reopening of schools.

Because the situation could change very quickly, McGovern added that the plan will be a framework for reopening and the district won’t see its full implementation until much closer to the opening of school on August 17.

“It’s a tough situation to move through, but as much concrete information as we can provide, our district will surely do that,” she said.