Billtown schools seeking return to normalcy

By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post

WILLIAMSFIELD – Masks are not going away anytime soon in Williamsfield schools, but Superintendent Tim Farquer said efforts are being made to return to some “traditional practices.”

“The mask mandate does not look like it’s going anywhere, but by and large, everything else we’re trying to get back to normal as much as we can,” Superintendent Tim Farquer said at Monday’s Williamsfield School Board meeting.

Farquer told the board that positive COVID cases have doubled in Knox County since Thanksgiving and that there were more positive COVID cases among Williamsfield students than at any other time.

“The good news is, we’ve seen very few close contacts end up testing positive,” Farquer said. “If there’s an anecdotal message from that, I really do think the masks are working here in our environment.”

Examples of returns to normalcy include elementary students lining up together in the gym before class, moving to more traditional congregational settings and practices in the cafe, and less spacing between students on buses.

The board also heard from Principal Zach Binder that more than 30 students have worked to convert an outside shed from a 10×13 space to 18×30 to provide increased storage for sports equipment.

Students and staff also put new panels on the greenhouse. This should allow the FFA to resume its annual plant sale this spring after a two-year hiatus.

And Binder discussed several other new initiatives, including a new student-run B.O.M.B.TV, which has provided news about school events and sports teams.

The board also recognized sophomore Sidney Stiers, who was FFA Creed Speaking champion at this year’s FFA convention.

In other business, the board approved a consent agenda that included district participation in the TRS Supplemental Savings Plan.

The next board meeting will be Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.