Jaeger reflects on a year of COVID, five years with the MCSD

     Monticello Superintendent Brian Jaeger is optimistic looking ahead at the 2021-22 school, while also reflecting on his past five years serving the Monticello Community School District.

     The COVID-19 pandemic became all too real in Monticello in March 2020 when the school shut down for three months.

     Before the 2020-21 school year could begin, the district had to have a Return to Learn Plan approved by the state. However, Jaeger said so much changed throughout the course of the beginning of the school year.

     “Every week, every day, we were taking on new challenges, how we can help people be successful in this new environment,” he recalled. “So much was changing every week; we didn’t know what to expect.”

     The MCSD kept in constant contact with Jones County Public Health from the start, even running scenarios and ideas by them.

     “We took the attitude when we started, because everything kept changing, we’re just going to have to be continuously open minded. Continuously look for things to get better or worse and react to our situation,” said Jaeger.

     Following the Halloween holiday, things in Jones County took a nose dive, or as Jaeger refers to it as, “ground zero.

     “We deteriorated through November. Everywhere in Jones County, that was the worst that it could be,” he said.

     For the MCSD, it wasn’t so much the students who were absent from the classrooms, but the staff. At one time, there was up to 20 percent of the staff out, or approximately 50 people.

     “More people were being infected,” recalled Jaeger. “It became more commonplace. It really became real for Monticello in November.”

     So, the district shut down for two weeks, and reopened in early December. Between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, Jaeger said everyone held its breath to see if more outbreaks would occur.

     “The end of January was kind of the end of the hornet’s nest,” he said. “I was really surprised. We were hopeful. We really didn’t have a big spike.

     “After prom, the same thing,” he continued. “We didn’t have any issues either.”

     As the pandemic rules continued to change throughout the course of this school year, Jaeger said they stayed in contact with JCPH, specifically Coordinator Jenna Lovaas.

     “We shared our data with JCPH, not seeing kids test positive while quarantining. They were seeing the same thing in other schools, too. They allowed us to relax our rules. We’ve been able to eliminated the scope of who has to go home now.”

     At one time, up to 50 kids or more would be under quarantine. Now, a handful at a time.

     Jaeger praised his staff, too, for forging ahead and going with the flow throughout the school year.

     They started off having Wednesdays to work on lessons and work with online learners. Then Gov. Kim Reynolds changed the state’s in-person learning law, and the MCSD offered staff half a day off on Wednesdays.

     “That has made it a little more difficult. But our staff responded like champs,” Jaeger said.

     Following the second semester, those students in all grade levels who were falling behind academically and struggling were forced to return to in-person learning unless they had a doctor’s excuse.

     “It was a good move at the time. We brought a lot of kids back.”

     For the most part, Jaeger said those who are still learning online are those students who have shown success with that option.

     Jaeger has always stated that the 2021-22 school year will be fully in-person; no online options. He said as more and more people get vaccinated, with kids as young as 12 being allowed to receive the vaccine soon, less people will get COVID.

     “If everyone has a chance to become vaccinated, we’ll be in a position where we’re as good as we can be. We’ll manage going forward. If someone is sick, we’ll have to see who’s been vaccinated and who hasn’t.”

     Masks will continue to be required as the remainder of this school year winds down.

     “Why make a change and risk things like awards night and graduation?” proposed Jaeger.

     As for whether masks will be required next school, that remains to be seen. A decision by the school board will likely be made in July.

     Jaeger praised JCPH up and down for their patience and attention throughout the past school year and more.

     “Jenna with JCPH has been incredible. All of the pressure that she’s been up against… She was a trooper.”

     Looking back on his past five years with the MCSD, Jaeger said, hands down, this school year as certainly been the most difficult.

     “It’s not just how we teach the kids; there were other politics going on and the dynamics of public health. People’s opinions of masks or no masks, online versus in-person. Just a ton of dynamics,” he said.

     While the community can see the obvious accomplishment of a new middle school and renovations to the high school, one accomplishment not as visible is the MCSD’s strategic operating plan.

     “I’m a big believer in a strategic operating plan. When I came here, that’s one of the things I promised that I would do,” offered Jaeger.

     A three-year plan was put into place, and the district quickly checked off every box. Now, they’re in their five-year plan where they’re reevaluating every program within the classrooms, PkrK-12.

     “For everything we do, we’re going to have a program review spread out over five years,” said Jaeger. “We’ll either tweak things and make them better or go away from it if it’s not giving us the best results. And what’s a program that can take its place that will give us the results we want?”