After the submission of two petitions, one with roughly 219 signatures by Board President Michelle Fullhart’s count, the Hamilton Southeastern Schools assured the public they want to start school as normal in August, but there is no way to make that decision now.  Fullhart read a statement from the board assuring the public nothing is being hidden from them, contrary to rumors being circulated within the school district community.

“We are not hiding anything,” according to the board statement, read by Fullhart at the May 27th meeting.  “We honestly do not know what Hamilton Southeastern Schools will be doing yet because it is too early to make those decisions.”

The school corporation has a task force, which includes staff and parents, as well as school board members, looking into all the options.  Superintendent Allen Bourff said at the board session that the comments from the petitions will be considered in the task force deliberations.

“Any decision is dependent on the guidance we are given by the state, CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and local health departments,” according to the board statement.  “We cannot make any promises at this point and no petition or amount of e-mail will cause a decision to be made prematurely.”

You can listen to the board statement as read at the school board meeting by President Fullhart, from the school board recording of the meeting, at this link.    There is also a brief discussion of the issue after the statement was read between Fullhart and Dr. Bourff.