July 11, 2020 Issue, Page 1 of 8

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Serving Western Oklahoma q Since 1901 i Saturday, July 11, 2020 School committee meets to learn about school preparations A Christmas in July banner in Elk City informs people of the annual festival held in Foss. The event continues today and features vendors come from several states selling everything from handmade jewelry to arts and crafts to food. Visitors can enjoy a free concert today from Northwest Passage Starting at 6:30 p.m. The evening will be complete with the Lighted Boat Parade and a fireworks show. For information on the lighted boats go to Facebook and access “Foss Lake Christmas in July Light Parade.” For park information, call 580-592-4433. For vendor information, call Neva Pyatt at 580- 497-6217. Festival attendees will be exempt stove’ ag ma so from paying the state fee upon entry. Staff Elk City Public Schools Superintendent Rick Garrison, left, talks to attendees during the photo by Neva Pyatt. Safe & Healthy Schools Districtwide Planning Committee meeting on June 30. Also talking to committee members at the meeting was Sarah Senger, right, district nurse. Staff photos by Commission Don Munsch. By Don Munsch, Editor approves grant for with, with the hawks thinking life should go on as usual and Elk City Public Schools will begin on time on campus this resource officer concer should be limited, while doves are much more cau- year, the district announced amid still spiking coronavirus tious and think everything — such as the economy — should cases in Oklahoma. be shut down and people should shelter in place. By Don Munsch, Editor Beckham County, though, as has been the case throughout “Our job is to find the common ground in all of that,” Gar- EIk City Public Schools will receive a new school resource the pandemic, has escaped wider spread of the virus. The rison said. “I think we could go to the extreme on either one officer this coming school year, thanks to a grant approved county has had 13 cases, with nine recoveries; 11 of those 13 of those. As we work through our plan, that’s what we try by the Elk City City Commission at its Monday meeting. cases have been in Elk City and seven of those nine recover- to do: We want the doves to feel comfortable, we want the The COPS Hiring Program Grant that was approved was ies have been in Elk City, according to state data. hawks to feel comfortable.” for $211,180.81. The officer will work for all schools, said Members of the Safe & Healthy Schools Districtwide He said educators have to evaluate and be prudent about Tom Ivester, interim city manager. Planning Committee — consisting of district officials and risk, and he said students are relying on educators to make “We currently have one [officer] and this was a grant to campus representatives along with parents, residents and the right decisions. add an additional or second resource officer for the schools,” students — met June 30 at Elk City High School to discuss Attendees also learned that teachers are preparing to use a he said. the beginning of the school year in light of the pandemic. A blend of curriculum and technology that allows for instruc- He said there was an opportunity to apply for the grant draft of a written plan — covering everything from transpor- tion to move from in-person to online in a seamless fashion. and the city approached the school district to see whether it tation to health protocols to student attendance, to name a Garrison discussed how the approach used by the district needed or would like a second officer. few areas — was distributed. About 40 people attended the needs to be responsible and reasonable. “They said they would; they said their first officer is meeting. “Hopefully ... this committee will sell this [plan] to our stretched a little thin, and so we applied for the grant and got The next meeting will be a ZOOM meeting on July 29 and community - that you take responsibility for you and your it,” Ivester said. then the committee will finalize the plan on Aug. 5, said Elk family,” Garrison said. The district has agreed that once the grant has run out, if City Superintendent Rick Garrison. everything is going well, it will then pick up the additional He said if a parent or child is sick, he or she needs to stay Garrison compared prepping for the opening of school in home and not infect someone else. cost of the second officer, Ivester said. Once the grant is ap- Elk City Schools’ plan will have protocols on school re- proved by the state agency handling the grant, the city will August to coping with a tornado. Classes begin Aug. 13. opening, including information on masks. send out notice for applications, which should happen in the “If you’re in a tornado warning and it’s in your area, you Robin Coffman, district curriculum director, discussed next 90 days. take a little different approach than if you don’t live in that aspects of the plan, such as ensuring faculty members are Contract information said the city match will be area,” he said. trained on cleaning and sanitation. Students may have to $86,180.81 over a three-year period, with the federal share The district will have a normal school calendar and adjust look after their own desks, such as wiping them down, Coff- being $125,000 during that period. accordingly. man said. Classrooms may no longer be able to have certain “This has been a great partnership between Elk City Public Garrison described how dealing the virus is akin to a three- items to share anymore, such as the crayons from a com- Schools and the Elk City Police Department,” Elk City Pub- legged stool. The first leg of the stool centers on understand- munity box. lic Schools Superintendent Rick Garrison said in an email, ing risk here in this community — as opposed to what is oc- The plan states that, in a section on calendars and sched- See Officer page 2. curring in Los Angeles, New York or Tulsa — and making ules, that the district could move into a distance learning decisions on that information. The other two legs are hawks and doves, meaning there are model at a campus site or for the entire district. “Bottom line is this has to be a team issue with all of us Beckham County two disparate groups, or trains of thoughts, one has to deal See Preparations page 2. has two new cases SWOSU announces fall schedule of COVID-19 By Don Munsch, Editor meet recommended guidelines. By Don Munsch, Editor Southwestern Oklahoma State University announced im- The university will cancel Fall Break and classes will Beckham County has added two new cases of COVID-19 portant dates to its fall schedule earlier this week, with a meet on Oct. 15 and 16. in the last week, bringing the total to 13 overall since the special change in the delivery of education made late in the Commencement will be held Nov. 20-21 with limited pandemic began, according to information from the District semester. guest participation. More details will be announced soon on 5 Southwest Oklahoma County Health Departments. Classes begin on the currently scheduled date of Aug. 17 at the website, the release stated. Classes will meet as usual Of those 13 cases, nine people have recovered, includ- the campus. The campus will be closed on Labor Day, Sept. on Nov. 23 and 24. Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26 this year. ing seven people from Elk City, according to data from the 7, the university stated in a news release. SWOSU President After Thanksgiving break, in order to minimize the spread Oklahoma State Department of Health. Eleven of the 13 Randy Beutler previously announced, in May, that SWOSU of COVID-19 from potential holiday travel, all classes will cases have been people from Elk City. in Weatherford and SWOSU-Sayre would have classes on transition to virtual. SWOSU will have three days of virtual State data show that there have been 17,893 cases, 407 campus in the fall and that university officials would work Dead Days from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. Virtual finals will start deaths and 13,538 recoveries. on plans for social distancing and other safety protocols that on Dec. 3 and end on Dec. 9. Vol. 118, No. 59 a Te Weather tomorrow 173 75 cents, 8 pgs. Mail delivery 580.225.3000 View online elkcityoknews.com