| Joanne Cole, NGX |
One month from now, classes will begin again for more than 1800 students in the MSAD 15 school system. What that return to school might look like became clearer this week as the school board formally and unanimously adopted a Fall 2020 Return to School Framework at their August 5 meeting. More than 250 residents joined the meeting online.
An overarching plan, the document outlines how the district as a whole will approach health and safety precautions, instruction, transportation, nutrition services, health services, athletics and co-curricular activities, and more. Intensive planning continues concurrently on implementing the plan at each academic level and each building.
Of particular interest to families are the three possible modes of instruction outlined in the plan: Red, with student learning occurring remotely online for nearly all students; Green, with students back in buildings but under strict masking, hygiene, and spacing rules; and Yellow, a hybrid that divides students into cohorts, with one group at school Mondays and Thursdays, the other on Tuesdays and Fridays, and remote learning on the alternate days. Under the remote and hybrid instructional models, Wednesdays are flex days for students and staff.
No announcement was made at the August 5 meeting as to which of the three instructional models the district will open with on September 8, students’ first day. Superintendent Craig King will announce that decision no later than Monday, August 17.
Regardless of what the district chooses as its initial plan for instruction, families may opt instead for exclusively remote instruction, something not all districts are offering, administrators noted.
Under the district’s timetable, all families must notify the district by Wednesday August 12 if they want remote instruction-only for their child no matter what, or if they prefer to commit to the district’s choice of approach, which might include in-person instruction and may change over time depending on conditions.
Families are committing to their choice for the first half of the academic year. Administrators looked hard at offering an opportunity to switch at the quarter mark, they told the board, but determined that it would not be workable.
Administrators and board members alike stressed that families and students who opt for the district plan are committing to follow all health and safety rules, including wearing masks, should the district proceed with in-person instruction. They asked families to think hard and realistically about whether their children can and will actually comply.
If parents think there’s even “a 20 percent chance” their child “can’t handle masks,” board chair Sam Pfeifle said, “please choose the virtual,” remote-only option. Pfeifle said he understands parents’ need to get back to work, but “it’s not a time to be rolling the dice” about whether children can follow the rules; health and safety depend on full compliance.
Similarly, the plan makes clear that families choosing the remote-only option are committing to their student’s regular engagement in synchronous and asynchronous activities, and to timely completion of assignments. Expectations under both the remote-only and district plan choices are laid out in the framework.
Parents may choose remote-only instruction for one child and the district plan for another. Families who do not respond by the August 12 deadline will registered as participating in the district plan – the more conservative call for planning purposes.
Board members raised questions about specifics under the framework: how teachers will be assigned, remote instruction in daycare settings, flex day activities, how cohorts will work at the high school level. But the most animated and extended discussion concerned whether students who choose remote-only instruction should also forego participation in sports or other in-person co-curricular activities, as administrators had proposed.
In the end, the board voted unanimously to permit remote-only students to participate, assuming sports, drama, and the like happen – something not yet certain. Board members didn’t want families basing their academic choice on whether sports and in-person activities would be open or closed to their children.
Administrators reminded the community that the district can’t offer in-person instruction unless all applicable health and safety requirements can be met: spacing, cleaning and hygiene protocols; PPE and masks, health services, staff training, and more. The state’s green light for Cumberland County alone is not determinative.
Superintendent King’s looming decision about opening school will not only be informed by data about local Covid-19 cases, community transmission risk, and other state guidance, but also by how many families opt for the district plan versus remote-only instruction. Making school and transportation safe for in-person instruction may depend on the numbers.
For now, families are urged to read the framework carefully, to direct questions to building principals, and to submit their instructional preference forms by the August 12 deadline. Much depends on their responses.
Access the board-approved Fall 2020 Return to School Framework here.
Superintendent King’s August 5 Back-to-School Choice letter to parents explaining the remote-only and district plan options, the form for parents to submit their preferences, and other information can be found at https://msad15.org/school-year-2020-21-covid-updates/
To watch video of the full August 5 board meeting, click here.
