BULLHEAD CITY – Officials with the Colorado River Union High School District are fine-tuning plans to re-open the district’s three high schools at the end of July. Administrators have worked on various scenarios since the State-mandated shutdown in the spring. However, nothing could be finalized until guidelines were received from the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). Those were released in early June. Early July is the target for the finalized plans.
“We’re making progress on the process,” said Superintendent Todd Flora. “We continue to examine the three options outlined by ADE. Any recommendations to the governing board will also implement the suggested health and safety guidelines as provided by state and county health officials.”
In addition to regular class sessions with social distancing, Flora noted that the ADE guidelines advise planning for both hybrid (traditional classroom and on-line) and virtual classrooms (completely online), should the need arise. The 2020-2021 school year for CRUHSD is expected to start July 29, with various programs for new and returning teachers at River Valley, Mohave and CRUHSD Academy High Schools prior to that.
Before any plans can be presented to the CRUHSD governing board for final approval, several unknowns beyond the district’s control must still be finalized. All Arizona public schools are awaiting one or more special sessions of the State Legislature, which could determine revised school finance funding levels. The second is pending action by the U.S. Senate on the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation, which has now been pushed back to late July.
“Even though this has been a challenging year for everyone, we know that our faculty and staff are determined to make the next school year a successful one,” Flora added. “It’s all about what’s best for the students.”
