Superintendent Michael Beresford sits at his desk. He said he thinks newly elected board member Louise Jackson will be a great addition to the school board.

Starting from the first Carmel Clay Schools (CCS) board meeting of 2021 on Jan. 11, newly elected board member Louise Jackson, along with reelected incumbent Katie Browning, will be sworn in. Jan. 11 also marks the start of school board appreciation week.

“We call (the Jan. 11 meeting) reorganization day because the board will determine who’s going to be the president this year, who’ll be the vice president, who’s going to be the secretary and the different committees that they’re on,” Beresford said. “Mrs. Jackson’s the new board member who was selected and I think she’ll be an outstanding board member. She’s been real active in the community and in our schools already, and I think she’ll add to the leadership here in a really good way.”

Beresford also said as Hamilton County has entered the red zone for COVID-19 cases, CCS has taken additional precautions, such as limiting board meetings to 25 people and stricter regulations on extracurriculars and sports.

According to senior Alia Rumreich, a member of Symphony Orchestra, after-school rehearsals have changed a lot as a result of COVID-19.

“After-school rehearsals with my orchestra are normally twice a week, but due to COVID, many of our rehearsals have been canceled. When we do have rehearsals, they have been changed to a socially distanced version and downsized, so there are less people,” Rumreich said. “In normal rehearsal situations, we’re in a U formation and we have stand partners but because of social distancing, we’re now in a rectangular formation, so that affects how we hear everyone and how you see the conductor and everything.”