Eastern Pulaski students attending class virtually will still be allowed to take part in extracurricular activities.
Superintendent Dara Chezem says the school board gave its official approval on Monday. “This is what the IHSAA has recommended and supported and what most schools are also doing,” she explains.
Meanwhile, she says homeschooled middle school students will be allowed to take part in Winamac Middle School’s extracurricular activities, if they take either English or math plus a second class at the school and were homeschooled the previous year. That policy was last adjusted back in November.
Chezem says high school football games will likely be limited to about 500 spectators, due to COVID-19 concerns. “That’s going to be open first to the athletes’ friends, and we’re working with the away school corporations to make sure that they get the tickets,” Chezem says. “Those are going to be a virtual option, so we’ll be sending out directions on how to get football tickets. Once we get them to the players’ families, then spectators will be able to go online to purchase tickets.” Other sporting events will be limited to 250 spectators.
Eastern Pulaski students returned to class this week for the first time since March. Chezem says she was thrilled with how smoothly the first day of class went. “Our students seemed excited to get back on campus after five months and doing the activities that they enjoy and seeing their friends, and I was really very excited about how all the safety precautions that we had put in place, how smoothly we transitioned into them.”
She says that staff members had a busy summer preparing for students to return to school, amid a number of unknowns.
