In Carlton, classes begin with seating charts, masks and other pandemic precautions

CARLTON, Minn. – Deb Coy zipped into her classroom 10 minutes before the bell rang Tuesday to find most of the nine seniors in her government class chatting about their summers.

"You know I hate seating charts," said the social studies teacher, who's been at Carlton High School for almost three decades. "This does not look like my room, right? But if anyone in the school gets sick, they have to be able to point to exactly where that kid sat."

From the front of her classroom, she lifted the bottom of her N95 mask for just a second to take a sip of water from a straw.

In the 450-student district south of Duluth, unfamiliar faces are rare. On this unusual first day of school amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the small class noticed a few missing from its ranks, at least one of whom opted to start the school year learning remotely.

But for Coy and the rest of the students, Tuesday was a reunion months in the making — certainly much later than the one they expected when the high school closed in March after the coronavirus outbreak.

"Trevor, have your mom send me one of those peppers she makes. I've never had one," Coy said. "Kristian, I've got your note about that college letter. What schools are you looking at?"

Announcements boomed from the intercom telling students to pick up their Chromebooks, which they'll need when the school goes hybrid for at least a few weeks later this month. Carlton Superintendent John Engstrom said the district had originally planned to let all grade levels regularly attend classes in person, but an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the county caused administrators to make a last-minute switch to more cautious learning model for secondary students, at least for a while.

Engstrom hopes Carlton may be able to bring its middle and high school students back full time as soon as October. In the meantime, they'll spend two days each week in the classroom and three studying remotely.

Blue arrows taped to the high school's hallways dictated traffic flow, though students sometimes ignored them in the between-class rush. Black garbage bags covered water fountains, which were taped with notes directing students to water filling stations.

Coy told her students there will be no tests for the first half of the school year. Instead, she'll be asking them to analyze and reflect on different issues and events.

"How many of you are going to be 18 by Nov. 3?" she asked. Four seniors raised their hands, and she told them she expects them to vote.

"You vote for who you choose," she said. "But you will vote."

The students nodded idly in response.

"What issues do you think Americans are going see as most important in this year's elections?" Coy continued.

"Jobs?" one student replied.

"Sure," Coy said. "How many of you know someone who's still unemployed?"

A few hands shot up.

"Is COVID going to make a difference in this election?" the teacher said.

She got more nods, this time a bit more vigorous.

After naming other issues that could affect voters' decisions at the ballot box — racial tensions, abortion, gun rights, foreign policy — the bell dinged again. Coy moved to block the doorway to hold back the high school students an extra minute while the middle schoolers moved around, an attempt to keep crowds down in the narrow hallways.

The small group stood bunched together near the exit as they waited to head to their next classes.

"You guys! Move apart!" Coy said, exasperated. "We have a whole lot of learning to do."