It seems like we’ve been planning for re-entry for years now! In reality it’s been months but we’ve gone through so many iterations for some plans that it seems like we’ve had the same conversations hundreds of times. We’re getting to the point where it is time to implement our plans and start letting the rubber meet the road.
I think we all know the saying, “measure twice, cut once”. This advice is meant to reduce mistakes by checking your plans before making final decisions. At this point, for many things, we’ve measured over and over again. It’s time to start making some cuts.
Tomorrow, after our health presentation, I will be sharing the re-entry plan that will be submitted to the health department as part of our re-entry process. There are a lot of pieces to it and they’ve all been measured many times (there are also still a few things that need to be added, it’s a living document). As we start making some “cuts” we are hopeful, yet confident, that our measurements have been well made. However, we’re also aware that we will need to make some modifications and additions as we go.
There is often a fine line with projects at this scale and with this level of importance. That fine line lies between measuring too much and not measuring enough. In some ways I feel like we’ve measured some of these procedures too much. I have to, however, remind myself that throughout that process we’ve found mistakes, identified areas of concern, and made improvements at almost every step in the process. As we begin to “make cuts” and take on the implementation stage we will be looking to revise as needed but not completely start over, in order to maintain the integrity of the overall plan.
In the classroom we often try new lessons and take risks. We plan and try to anticipate the potential pitfalls. Inevitably some lessons are a huge success and others need some modifications midway through the lesson. However, it is the very rare lesson where we just throw it out and totally start over. Our hope with where we are in the planning process is that we can avoid the need to start over. Modifications will happen but hopefully we won’t have to abandon anything completely!!
We are less than two weeks away from students returning to our building. I appreciate all of the support you’ve given to this planning process and will continue to give as we move to the implementation phase. Your willingness to engage in conversation, raise your hand with questions and concerns, and offer potential solutions has made the planning process much more manageable (especially for someone who’s never seen this building “operational” before!)
We’ve measured twice, now it is time to cut!
Pushing Forward 