Less than 20% of DeKalb Students Register for Remote Learning

July 23, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

For the past month the DeKalb County School District has been seeking a response from parents on whether they want remote learning for their children due to COVID-19 with the reopening of schools on August 3.

Of the district’s 2,873 student enrollment, a total of 533 (18.6%) have been signed up for remote learning as of Tuesday, July 21. For the five individual schools, the numbers break down as follows:

*DCHS: 824 enrollment (143 remote learners) 17.4%

*DeKalb Middle School: 578 enrollment (109 remote learners) 18.9%

*Northside Elementary School: 573 enrollment (134 remote learners) 23.4%

*Smithville Elementary School: 502 enrollment (83 remote learners) 16.6%

*DeKalb West School: 396 enrollment (64 remote learners) 16.2%

Unlike this past school year, the school district will use the same digital platform for all grade levels and parents should be prepared to understand how to make use of it and to practice its operation with their children.

Director Patrick Cripps has announced that all DeKalb County students in grades K-12 (almost 3,000) will be provided a chromebook (computer) for the 2020-2021 academic school year for use in the classrooms and at home.

“Every student in the school system will get a 1:1 device (computer) to take home. We will expect our teachers to not only communicate with our parents digitally but be prepared to assign lessons through the Edgenuity platform,” said Cripps.

The DeKalb County School District is offering a “Parent Digital University” for those with children in the school system.

Parents are urged to view the videos below (available in English and Spanish) to better educate themselves on the use of the digital educational platform being offered by the school district in preparation for remote learning from home .The videos will equip you with the tools necessary to help make your child successful in the DeKalb County School System.

(Video below in English)

(Video below in Spanish)

July 23, 2020
By: Bill Conger

The DeKalb West School Junior Beta club took its talented tech students to the first ever National Junior Beta Club Virtual Convention.

Bradley Pelham, Kolton Slager, and Riley Fuson had placed 2nd in the Tennessee competition last November, earning them a spot to the convention in Texas. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the convention was conducted with online competitions. The Tech team had to submit its video by June, and finalists were announced July 17.

“They did not place, but they learned to work as a team and to give as well as receive criticism as a team,” DWS Jr. Beta Lead Sponsor Jessica Antoniak said.

Operating on the theme, Beta As Far As I Can See, the Bulldog Betas created a video doing different kinds of service including helping with the school’s Backpack program, cleaning up at the school and around the community, helping around their home, and packing boxes for military personnel. Pelham used iMovie to edit it and FlipaClip to create the transitions.

“For Nationals the boys decided to change the video a little bit,” Antoniak explained. “The content remained the same, but Bradley made the transitions better, and they added a question at the end.”

Co-sponsor Nadina Martel led the team with discussion and working through changes as they convened on Google Meets.

Congratulations to the DWS Junior Beta Club for making it to the national convention.

July 23, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The TSSAA Board of Control moved ahead with a contingency plan for a high school football season Wednesday, along with a list of restrictions if games are played.

Safety measures include temperature checks for athletes, coaches and personnel and also a requirement of face masks at events and limited attendance at events.

An option 2-hybrid plan was unanimously approved for football which includes an eight-game regular-season and four weeks of playoffs, but keeps flexibility open for potential scheduling changes and start dates.

The hybrid model allows the TSSAA to have a week-by-week road map. The plan accounts for the possibility that teams will not be able to begin contact practices on the date that they are scheduled to happen.

That option does not define a clear start date for football but leaves options open, depending on Gov. Bill Lee’s office granting an early exemption from the Aug. 29 state of emergency that includes no contact sports.

The board also voted on a girls soccer contingency plan that called for the season to begin Sept. 7, with the postseason beginning Nov. 11-14, should the season not be able to start on time. Teams that don’t play a maximum number of games and are eliminated from the postseason could play extra games.

“I think the TSSAA did their part putting a plan in place and if the opportunity presents itself for us to play then we do have a plan. A couple of weeks ago they (TSSAA) had a few plans out there but what they adopted today (Wednesday) was actually a new plan,” said DCHS Tiger Football Coach Steve Trapp.

The league also adopted unanimously its COVID-19 guidelines and procedures required of all member institutions who wish to compete in all athletics in the 2020-21 calendar school year.

“The regulations and guidelines the Board passed Wednesday go into effect immediately for all sports,” said Bernard Childress, Executive Director of the TSSAA. “We’re hopeful that the prohibition on contact sports will be lifted before August 29, but if it’s not, the Board of Control has put some policies in place to help keep our kids and communities safe and lay out a roadmap to the start of our football and girls’ soccer seasons.”

What the association does not yet have is an exact start date for competitions. The reasoning there is fairly straightforward: Tennessee high schools and their athletics programs, as well as myriad other entities, cannot begin practices and/or games in contact sports under Gov. Bill Lee’s current State of Emergency Order. Executive Order No. 50 promotes “social distancing and avoidance of large gatherings” and limits activities in contact sports.

“We are working hand-in-hand with the Governor’s Office,” Childress said. “Everything presented Wednesday has been vetted by the Governor’s Office, agreed upon by their legal counsel and by our legal counsel.

“The governor’s (executive order) is still in place. We cannot do anything right now other than weightlifting, conditioning, heat acclimation periods with no contact. This is not TSSAA vs. the Governor’s Office. Everything has been a joint effort and we are not in conflict. Our goal is to have an ordinary season as much as possible,” said Childress.

“ Right now as it stands our current schedule is intact and if we are able to start contact practice by a certain date then we could start our football games on time but if not then we could probably lose at least our week one game. It’s a week by week plan but right now because of the governor’s order barring contact at football practices we can’t go full pads until the order expires or is lifted and if we can’t practice for a couple of weeks in full pads we can’t play a game (on time) so although our schedule is still intact certain games could get eliminated. It just depends on the date when we can get in pads,” said Coach Trapp.

As it stands now, the TSSAA is hoping to start contact practices as originally planned. If teams start by Aug. 3, they still could start the season on time. For every week after Aug. 3 that teams can’t practice, the hybrid plan allows for TSSAA to alter the regular season and playoff schedule.

The approved hybrid plan would be used only if the season can’t start as scheduled.

For football’s “Option 2 Hybrid” plan, the state preserves the potential for a 10-game regular season and full playoff format, but also lays the groundwork for what could become an eight-game season with a reduced playoff field for Division I. Under the Option 2 Hybrid, there is a potential start date in place and a plan for the season to begin as early as Aug. 21 or as late as Sept. 18.

The plan perhaps is most succinctly summarized as thus: Once the state of Tennessee reaches the date of August 4 and the governor’s executive order declaring a State of Emergency still stands, region games originally scheduled for Week 1 of the prep football season will be moved to later, common dates that TSSAA already has modeled. As each week passes where no contact is allowed, the next week’s region games are rescheduled.

“Clearly, sports will look different this year,” said Childress. “We have to be flexible and understand that we’re in a unique situation. We’re trying to make the best decision for young people.”

In the hybrid football model, teams must complete an acclimation period and three weeks of practice before any competition. As the calendar progresses, region games will be moved to a later date and replace open dates or non region games as necessary.

The board also passed a motion of safety guidelines that will be implemented throughout the fall sports seasons and will affect all sports, cheerleading and band as well as others involved in those activities.

Included in those guidelines:

• Players, coaches and personnel will have to take a temperature check prior to practice every day. Any person with a temperature 100.4 or higher will be required to go home immediately and cannot return without a negative COVID-19 test or verification from a doctor that the temperature wasn’t a cause of COVID-19.

• No coach, player or personnel can compete without a COVID-19 questionnaire completed.

• There will be no scrimmages for all fall sports, jamborees or seven-on-seven contests. Scrimmages must be limited to intrasquad.

• Fans entering a facility must have temperatures taken (with exception given to children 2 and younger). The same guidelines that are in place for players and coaches remain. Temperature checklists must be posted prominently.

• Member schools must require fans to wear face coverings while attending events.

• Concession stands will not be prohibited but will be discouraged, with options that would ensure social distancing recommended.

• Coaches must complete a NHFS COVID-19 course, which will be provided free.

• While no exact figure was set, schools were urged to offer limited seating (from a third to a quarter capacity) during events, posting areas that were not available.

A motion also passed that any team not able to play a postseason contest because of COVID-19 would forfeit. Any regular-season games with that scenario would be considered no-contests.

The DCHS football season is currently scheduled to kick off on Friday, August 21 in Smithville against Warren County followed by another home game against Upperman on August 28. The first road game will be September 4 at Stone Memorial in Crossville.

All games start at 7:00 p.m. All opponents are the same as last year but the home and away games are reversed this year.

WJLE will have LIVE coverage each week.

The DCHS 2020 Football Schedule is as follows:
REGION OPPONENTS (*)

August 21: Warren County- Smithville 7 p.m.
August 28: Upperman-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 4: Stone Memorial*-Crossville 7 p.m.
September 11: Watertown-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 18: Grundy County- Away 7 p.m.
September 25: Cannon County-Woodbury 7 p.m.
October 2: Livingston Academy*-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 9: Smith County-Carthage 7 p.m.
October 16: Macon County*-Lafayette 7 p.m.
October 23: BYE WEEK
October 30: Cumberland County* Smithville 7 p.m.

« First ‹ Previous 1 1223 1313 1321 1322 13231324 1325 1333 1423 2408 Next › Last »