Community colleges focusing on safety for fall semster

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Getting back to the norm was the plan for community colleges, but in an environment that was safe for students and faculty.

For those who were still nervous about in-person classes, online courses would also be available.

“We are putting many cautions in place as recommended by the CDC and the Mississippi Department of Health,” said East Mississippi Community College President Dr. Scott Alsobrooks.”

Alsobrooks added that a lot of planning went into the decision of reopening.

“It’s been an extensive process and we listen to Dr. Dobbs of Mississippi Department of health and repeated the governor’s recommendations and we use all of that information to be able to make decisions to try to have school as safely as possible,” said Alsobrooks.

As for challenges EMCC may face at first?

“A lot of the things that we do at the community college level are known the vocational education career And technical education work for education tend to be hands-on application base,” said Alsobrooks. “So those areas are going to be a challenge because there are just some things that we really need to get students in a laboratory and really get them to learn by doing.”

Itawamba Community College President Dr. Jay Allen said students should expect several changes in the classroom.

“We will be encouraging highly encouraging face masks to be worn,” said Allen. “It is sometimes difficult to think about lecturing from an environment with a face mask on. So we got some steps that we are going to be taking and putting in place to make them more doable for them. We are appropriate and we are capable we are going to distance those students as much as possible we will have sanitizing procedures for each classroom after that class has met and before the next class comes in.”