Fairfield schools hosting students off campus

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Community School District is looking for places in town to host students on days when they're not in a school building.

The district is moving forward with a hybrid model where half of instruction will be in the classroom and the other half will be online.

School Superintendent Laurie Noll said a number of groups have reached out to the district to offer space so that the kids have a place to go. The Fairfield Library Board met Wednesday and agreed to let the district use its meeting room as a classroom. Other groups that have offered space include the First United Methodist Church, the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, First Baptist Church and the Roosevelt Community Recreation Center.

Noll said the district is looking for one location per grade level. So far, all but two of the grades have places to go, so the district hopes another couple of facilities will step forward to lend a helping hand.

Noll said the idea of housing the students in buildings off campus came about after parents requested a place for their children to be during the day since they were unable to take care of them at home because of work obligations.

Noll said these rooms will be outfitted so the students can do their online coursework. Each site would have a lead teacher to watch the students. The plan is for each site to accommodate both cohorts of students on different days.

One group of students will attend in-person classes Monday, Tuesday and every other Wednesday morning, and the second will attend classes Thursday, Friday, and every other Wednesday morning. When not in a school building, the students will be at one of these off-campus locations.

Noll said that, just like the district is thoroughly cleaning the building in between each group of students arriving, these off-campus locations will be thoroughly cleaned as well.

The district is doing what it can to isolate the students from the rest of the public when they use these other buildings. For instance, students will use a separate entrance to the library different from those used by the library's employees or other patrons.

Fairfield's school year begins Monday, and its introduction of fall athletes, 'Meet the Trojans,” will begin at 6 p.m. Friday at Trojan Stadium.