FORREST CITY, Ark. —More than 2,000 students in the Forrest City School District are “Virtually learning” this week.
The Forrest City School District will hold virtual classes for this coming week, Monday, Oct. 5, through Friday, Oct. 9, the district announced Sunday night.
FCSD said students will not attend on campus, but classes will be held online. The district said this will allow employees and administrators currently in quarantine an opportunity to return.
Additionally, FCSD said while they are going virtual, they will also conduct deep cleaning as a safety precaution at each of their district campuses.
Kendall Owens, with the Forrest City School District, said the district made the decision to switch to all virtual learning after consulting with the Arkansas Department of Public Education.
“The decision was made, basically, not because of a mass outbreak of Covid, but to allow our employees and administrators who have been ill with the disease some time to recover,” Owens said. “So, we could then try to move forward as normally as we possibly can right now.”
FCSD said via Facebook, the pre-kindergarten programs at ABC Pre-school and Central Elementary School will be open. The Parent-Teacher Conferences scheduled at ABC Pre-school, Central Elementary School and Stewart Elementary School scheduled for Monday, Oct. 5, will be held as scheduled.
In a press release, Dr. Zrano Bowles, Forrest City School District Assistant Superintendent, said the following:
“The safety of our students and staff has always been paramount for the Forrest City School District. In light of the number of individuals that have had to enter quarantine over the past several weeks, we felt that a week of virtual classes would allow those individuals to fully recover and or be cleared from quarantine and return to school the week of Oct. 12.”
Schools holding on-line classes only are:
Central Elementary And Stewart Elementary
Forrest City High School
Forrest City Junior High School
Sixth Grade Academy
Mustang Academy
