The Pearl River School District’s Board of Trustees held a special called meeting Wednesday evening to discuss an amended plan for the reopening of schools.

For the most part the plan will remain the same, but there were some changes made after further discussion and evaluation of COVID-19 procedures that would be in place for the upcoming school year.

One of the bigger changes made was delaying the start of school by one week, so students will now begin school Aug. 13, instead of Aug. 6.

However, the first two days of instruction will still be distance learning from home with assignments being given on social distancing and personal hygiene for the pandemic.

Aug. 17 will be the first day of in person classes.

There have been changes to time periods for instructional planning, extracurricular activities and club meetings for each campus.

These extra periods will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the elementary school campus, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the middle school campus, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the high school campus and 1:50 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the endeavor school campus.

Another addition to the reopening plan was a policy regarding the procedure for when a student exhibits flu related symptoms or has a fever when being screened entering a bus in the morning.

The policy states, “Secondary students with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher and/or visible COVID/Flu symptoms will be instructed to return home and not allowed to ride the school bus. Elementary students with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher and/or visible COVID/Flu symptoms will be asked if a parent is home. If the parent is home, the elementary student will be directed to return home at that time. If the parent is not home, the elementary student will be directed to sit in the first seat and provided a mask to wear as he/she is transported to the school. When arriving at the school, the student will immediately report to the isolation room for observation.”

The final addition to the reopening plan was a statement regarding face coverings for students.

The Poplarville and Picayune school districts have made face coverings mandatory, according to previous coverage.

However, that won’t be the case for students in the Pearl River County School District.

The statement says, “The Pearl River County School District acknowledges social distancing is a challenge during transition times and transportation of students; therefore, it is strongly recommended that students wear a mask during these times.”

Following the unanimous approval of the amended reopening plan, the board moved into closed session to discuss a personnel matter.