Daly Elementary School in Fayette has canceled summer school plans for 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus. Principal Cheri Huster broke the news in an email to parents on Wednesday.

Huster reported to the Fayette R-III Board of Education in May that she was working on plans to host summer school in two sessions to allow for social distancing. A survey issued to elementary school parents indicated that most families preferred the school to provide bus transportation to and from summer school. At the time, Huster and transportation supervisor Gary Beeler thought they could provide bus service while still adhering to social distancing requirements.

However, risks regarding the pandemic outweighed the benefits of holding the summer program. “After considering a wide variety of options and consulting with medical professionals, we have decided it is best at this point to not have summer school at the elementary this summer,” Huster wrote in the email to parents. “We have worked hard to try to make this a reality for our students and families. 

“We want to really put our focus into making sure that we are ready to start in August with our elementary-aged students. The process that we've gone through to consider options for transportation and scheduling have helped us to see the steps we feel we need to put in place to help school run smoothly this fall. We still have some questions that need to be clarified and we are coordinating a team of local health professionals and emergency management professionals to work with us on this. As much as we want to have our kids here, the health and safety of our students and our families is our top priority.”

Summer school credit recovery programs will be provided for middle and high school students. These classes are being held at the high school Mondays through Thursdays from June 1 to June 25. However, Driver’s Education classes for summer school were canceled.