School Reopening Community: Learning Beyond COVID-19

The district worked to get every student a Chromebook and, if requested, MiFi. IT and schools pushed instruction on various ways to deliver instruction: Google Classroom, eLearning, and apps such as Padlet, Thinglink, Jamboard, and PearDeck. The weekly schedule was changed to include 4 days of Zoom instruction and 1 async day. <br><br>The issue of safety was paramount. It has paid off in that our district has one of the lowest infection rates of any similarly sized city in the nation. That said, it has been a challenge both for educators and for students. Some students have stated that they prefer the distance learning model and take on the responsibility of attending Zoom class and submitting work regularly. Others wish to return to school, both for social and academic reasons. Tech problems have included poor internet connections, quick expenditure of the limited monthly gigabytes of MiFi, and broken Chromebooks. Students who lack organizational and self-monitoring skills are floundering. Teachers report that they are doing more work than ever before to adjust curriculum and lessons to the more limited minutes, add digital enrichment, and contact with students who either do not respond while in class or fail to sign on at all.<br><br>This week, after a district-wide survey of comfort levels in which 81% of teachers stated that they did not feel comfortable returning to schools in November, our district declared that distance learning would continue, at least until January. The one exception is self-contained Special Education classes. Starting January 4, these SPED classes will resume 4 days weekly, retaining the async day. If some parents opt to keep their children home, this will create the need to adapt to a new hybrid teaching model. Logistics are still being worked out. While it would be a great advantage to be able to work in-person with these students, I am concerned for the safety of our 2 SPED classes that would return. Our school is undergoing major renovation that limits space and affects heating and ventilation. Many of the children and some of the educators have health problems that, in spite of adherence to a protocol of masks and appropriate cleaning, could be exacerbated by poor ventilation or by increased risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.