By Ray King
Some of the schools in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County opened their doors Monday for in-class instruction, the first time since March that students had been in classrooms since the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to go to online instruction only.
Watson Chapel, White Hall and Southeast Arkansas College had some students on campus while others chose to continue online learning and according to officials from all three schools, things went well.
Appearing on the Oldies 101.3 morning show, Alan Frazier, president of the Watson Chapel School Board was asked about that first day.
Frazier said that while he has not seen figures yet, he thinks that about 40 percent of students chose the online route while the others chose to be in class.
Appearing on the Oldies 101.3 morning show before school started, White Hall Superintendent Doug Dorris said he expected about 80 percent of the students in his district to be in-class while the remaining 20 percent would be taught online. He was asked Tuesday if the actual enrollment lived up to his prediction”
Monday was also the first day for Students at Southeast Arkansas College and President Steven Bloomberg said Tuesday that with all the options students have, he was surprised to see so many of them on campus Monday. He too was asked about the percentage of students who will be in class this year verses the number taking classes online.
The Pine Bluff and Dollarway School Districts opened up today.
