Harwood tries to stick with opening plan, but new state input may force big changes sooner than expected
August 15, 2020 | By Lisa Scagliotti
Crossett Brook Middle School is getting a new roof this summer, replacing the original that lasted 23 years. The contractor LGR1 from Chelmsford, Mass., is doing the $575,000 job paid for with school maintenance funds, according to school officials. Photo by Gordon Miller.
The latest communications from the Harwood Unified Union School District regarding the opening of school next month continue to add more questions to the discussion that will continue next week on at least two occasions.
The fourth online question-and-answer session with Superintendent Brigid Nease is Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. and the school board has an online meeting Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Likely in the conversations will be discussion of new details that Nease shared with staff and families of students in a memo sent out by email Wednesday night and posted on the district’s website and social media.
The communication was a lengthy staff memo shared in its entirety with the community. The most significant new piece of information it contained was the news that updated guidelines issued by the Vermont Agency of Education on Tuesday urge school districts to operate with as much in-person instruction time for students as soon as possible after opening on Sept. 8.
“There are many significant changes that will impact and change how we open schools,” Nease said in her memo, referring to the new information from the state.
Harwood Union’s plan calls for opening schools with a 4:1 hybrid model where pre-K through grade 12 students attend school in person one day per week and learn remotely the other four days. Classes would be divided into A and B groups with half attending on one of two in-person days; that would mean teachers would be in school two days per week teaching a different group each of those days.
Nease has said the district would aim to add more in-person instruction days based on how well the opening goes and what the situation is with the COVID-19 virus. On Monday, Nease suggested that more in-person days could be added into the schedule by mid-October.
State suggests full-time in-person for pre-K-4 in September
But the state’s communication on Tuesday urges districts to get students into classrooms on a faster track. It suggests it might call for schools to move to what educators are referring to as Step III within two weeks of starting the school year. That stage of opening would have students in pre-K through grade 4 in school full-time; students in grades 5-12 would attend two days per week with remote learning the other three days.
Vermont schools are opening in a Step II phase which focuses on a hybrid plan of a mixture of remote and in-person learning. Step I is what schools entered last spring with buildings closed and all school activity done remotely.
State education officials also this week announced a relaxing of the six-foot distancing requirement for the youngest students saying children in pre-K through grade 4 would need to maintain only 3-6 feet distance. That might mean that classes at that level could be in school in a single group if classroom space could accommodate the entire class at the closer distance.
“We are still working to determine if this is possible in every classroom in every building,” Nease wrote.
One new wrinkle that could crop up in Step III mode is that it would be highly unlikely for the district to offer an all-remote option for families who do not want to send their children into school for any in-person learning. If teachers are teaching in the classroom four or five days per week, they would not also be able to teach online to students at home on those days, Nease said.
“The district could not possibly hire another staff to serve students totally remotely in all Pre K -12 grades and subject areas,” Nease wrote. “I believe those parents will need to apply for home-study with the state.”
The superintendent’s memo also contained discussion of child care issues such as noting the state service to help parents find child care in their communities and details on how to seek state subsidy for child care expenses. Many of the points noted unresolved issues around child care, especially regarding care for school-age children.
The memo also contained:
A request urging teachers considering taking leave to submit requests soon to assist with planning. So far, Nease said the district has received 22 leave requests, all but two from teachers. In addition, only 21 percent of the district’s substitute teachers are available to be called in if needed. The district is now looking to hire two more nurses, five custodians, a number of bus monitors to do temperature checks, as well as more teachers and support staff.
A link to a video produced by the Champlain Valley School District in Chittenden County with interviews with school nurses and medical experts from the community about school health and safety concerns around reopening.
More emails, meetings in run-up to Sept. 8
The memo was followed on Thursday by an email to families with a short survey asking if they were likely to send their child to school if the district moved to the Step III scenario with full-time school for pre-K-4 and two days in school per week for older students.
On Friday, families received the second Weekly Bulletin, a new communication that aims to summarize recent developments around reopening schools. That item had a link to a separate document of Frequently Asked Questions called the HUUSD Fall 2020 Return to Learn FAQ. It also contained some details on buses saying that more information on busing was to come next week including a request to parents to sign up for their children to use buses. Another new twist will be revisions to morning bus stops to create cluster stops to expedite temperature checks needed before students board buses.
Details on how to attend Monday’s Q&A online session and Wednesday’s school board meeting are on HUUSD.org.