By Blake Theisen / News Director

The St. Cloud Area School District 742 announced yesterday that their plans for this school year are still undetermined following Governor Tim Walz’ “Safe Learning Plan” for Minnesota public schools.

According to state guidance, school districts will be required to use local COVID-19 data to inform their learning model. The three learning models are in-person, distance learning, or a hybrid of the two. Depending on the status of COVID-19, school districts may be forced to shift between models if conditions change.

According to the Governor’s plan, the most conservative county health date needs to be used when choosing which learning model will be implemented. This makes things difficult for the St. Cloud Area School District because it reaches out to four different counties and spans 250 square miles.

In a press release, the school district says that because the real-time health status of the community dictates which learning model will be used, they are still unsure of what the first day of school will look like for this year.

Area schools will also be implementing several new safety measures to help slow or prevent the spread of COVID-19 within school students and staff. Some of those measures include, symptom and exposure screening, frequent cleaning of high touch surfaces, limited visitors and guests, as well as a mask mandate throughout the entire school day and while on buses.

Families will have the option to choose distance learning for their children regardless of the learning model that will be required by state guidelines.

The Minnesota State High School League has not given any directive on activities and athletics. They have a board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, August 4th.