Some will attend in-person classes
Some teachers will be remote
The final batch of Boulder Valley students return in person this week with the first group starting Tuesday — though the return to in-person classes won’t mean every student’s teacher will be in the classroom with them.
Seventh- and eighthgraders at middle school and 10th-, 11th- and 12thgraders at high school start in-person classes this week. Other grades have returned over the past few weeks in staggered starts, with the first group — K-2 students — going back Sept. 29.
Boulder Valley’s middle school students attend in person two days a week, while high school students attend one day a week. On remote days, students generally will follow along with the in-person class from home. Mondays are a “launch” day, with all students learning independently from home so teachers can plan.
While the district was able to bring back ever y grade, staffing remains an issue.
The district has about 300 teachers who are allowed to teach remotely because of health issues or a family member with health issues. Especially at the high school level, with more specialized classes, it’s not possible for another teacher to take on an extra class or to hire a long-term substitute, district officials said.
Instead, some of those teachers will continue teaching from home, even as their students go back in person. Paraeducators and other school staff members will supervise those classes in person, while the teacher will lead the class — both those inperson and those learning from home — remotely.
Boulder Valley spokesman Randy Barber said district leaders believe there are benefits to students experiencing school, even if a teacher isn’t in the classroom with them. Those include socializing with classmates and accessing in-school supports, such as counselors.
“Very little is ideal during this pandemic,” he said. “This allows us to protect the staff that needs protection. While it is not ideal, it is a good option for us to be able to have these kids back and have that school experience.”
As the district increases in-person learning opportunities or as more students opt to attend in person, fewer teachers may continue to qualify for health accommodations.
Following updated Centers for Disease Control guidelines, the district may stop extending the remote-only accommodation to teachers with family members who are high risk, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Mike Gradoz said. Instead, those accommodations would be limited to only teachers themselves who are high risk.
About 100 of the 300 teachers who received an accommodation to teach online qualified by having a high-risk household member.
“As we get more kids in person, the challenge is we need more teachers in person,” Gradoz said. “We will call teachers back (in person) on a case-by-case, school-by-school basis.”
A teacher in that situation who is still uncomfortable with teaching in person may take a leave of absence for the rest of the school year, he said. The district then could hire a limited-term teacher to cover that position, he said.
The district didn’t yet have a firm number on the percentage of secondary students planning to attend in person this week, though the majority are expected to show up in classrooms.
On social media, some parents of secondary students have questioned if in-person school one or two days a week — especially when some teachers won’t be in the classroom — is worth the risk of coronavirus exposure.
Paul Strode, a science teacher at Boulder’s Fairview High School who is teaching in person, sent a survey to his students asking if they planned to return in person and what variables would impact their decisions for those who chose “it depends.”
Their answers show teens trying to balance a desire for in-person education with fears of transmitting the virus to relatives and logistical challenges, including their own work schedules and needing to drive younger siblings to school.
For the third of his students who weren’t sure, many noted their parents or other relatives are at high risk if they contract the virus. Others said they were more likely to go in person if they were struggling to understand something or could complete lab work.
“I personally think I can learn better in person than remote learning, but I do feel like there is a great risk (with) in-person learning, especially for my family,” one student responded.
Strode said about twothirds of the 90-plus students in his three classes plan to attend in person, with three to eight students in his classroom on a given day. His plans for the in-person students vary by class.
For his Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate seniors, who are doing ecology activities from home, school will be similar in person and at home, with all students still logged into Google Meet, he said.
Students in his anatomy and physiology class, when in person, will have the opportunity to use microscopes and study hand-on models when he isn’t going over material for the whole class, both online and in person.
One student not planning to attend in person is Fairview senior Owen Hushka.
“I come in contact with family who are at risk frequently, so keeping them safe was definitely my main priority,” he said. “I decided that it seemed like an unnecessary risk to go back to school considering that my quality of education would be essentially the same.”
In talking to friends already attending in person, he said, it sounded like most classes will be online, just with students doing the work in a Fairview classroom instead of at home.
“I also figured that I would not really be able to see my friends that much more because of the distancing we should be keeping, and I am not even sure if we could eat lunch together,” he said. “Although it would be nice to get out of the house more, I think I will save time working online, and it will also be nice to not have to drive to school.”