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Butte students adjusting to safety regulations as in-person classes start

Posted at 7:11 PM, Sep 01, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-02 13:39:07-04

BUTTE - School is back in session at Butte High School, even if it doesn’t always look like it.

“Well, it’s much quieter than I’m more typically used to,” said Butte High Principal John Metz.

In-person classes in Butte started back up Monday after being closed by state order in March due to the coronavirus. The first day back went smoothly.

“I got all kind of emails yesterday and I think everyone was pleasantly surprised about how well it went,” said Metz.

Block scheduling is keeping kids in isolated areas, eating lunch in their classrooms with an occasional outdoor break.

The high school reports just over 1,300 students with a few hundred opting for remote learning.

“That’s 85 percent of our kids want to come back and their parents want them back, so that’s an indicator that the face-to-face learning is better,” said Metz.

Under this new block scheduling you don’t see the students wandering the halls as much, and that’s the point — they want to prevent the intermingling among the students, as much as you can with teenagers.

“The goal is to stay in school, right? And I think the more diligent our students are about following the rules, you know, both at school and outside in the community, the better chance we have of keeping our doors open for a longer period of time,” he said.

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