As Indiana continues to climb out of the COVID-19 restrictions imposed by local and state officials, there has been much speculation about what August will look like when students return to school.

The Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County is trying to make the transition back to the classroom as smooth as possible for students and parents, as they announced recently the implementation of a full-time online curriculum (virtual school) for families who wish to keep their children home to mitigate the risk for their children or family.

In an e-mail to parents, superintendent Dr. Lisa Lantrip said, “We believe it is critical to offer a variety of educational opportunities for families based on the health of their students and other family members.”

Wes Anderson, community relations manager for the district, told Giant FM the idea of the virtual school is the result of a realization that parents may have reservations in August.
“We understand those concerns and want to still be able to provide them with the same quality Southern Hancock education,” Anderson said.

Anderson said it is the district’s hope that parents will be able to see the intent is to continue to provide the best education possible for all students in all situations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The virtual school’s curriculum will be full E-Learning. However, we are still evaluating other options for the start of school that may include part-time E-Learning for some students. Those decisions have not been finalized yet,” Anderson told Giant FM.

The district is still working on finalizing registration info, and Anderson said the district hopes to have that out to the public as soon as possible.

“We understand this is a short summer and want to move as quickly as possible to get a quality virtual curriculum ready for students for 2020-21,” Anderson said.