Officials anticipate students’ mental stress

NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Members of a School District task force expressed concerns during a meeting Monday about the mental health of students and staff as the district moves forward with a plan for in-person education amid the covid-19 pandemic.

Reopening School Task Force members said it has become clear dealing with the pandemic will be a monumental task in the school year.

“We want to do all of the learning — whether that is virtual, whether that’s inside the classroom or whether we create another option — we want to do it with the intention that we are teaching and educating the children,” Interim Superintendent Keith McGee said during the meeting broadcast online. “I want everybody, including this committee and everybody viewing this, to understand this is going to be fluid based on any guidelines or updates that are constantly coming.”

Amanda Stuckey, supervisor of school nurses and a registered nurse, told the task force she met Monday morning with counselors and teachers about developing ways to assist teachers, students and families with the mental stress they may face in the coming year.

“It’s very important to know that these kids and teachers have been isolated for a very long time,” Stuckey said. “With reentry into a school building they are going to have a lot of anxieties, fears and things that we need to be aware of and openly discussing instead of trying to ignore.”

McGee said school officials plan to have a psychologist available for group therapy for teachers who need it. He also mentioned having someone available for students as well.

Stuckey said because of changes to the normal school day, the student council and school officials are creating a video about what a typical day in the life of a student will look like when students return to school.

Also in the works is the creation of a checklist for teachers that will cover all the safety needs and precautions that will be discussed with students every day.

“We are going to have teachers go over it every morning, and they can just check it off their list that they have communicated with their kids,” Stuckey said. “If we do that every day, then hopefully it will get in the kids’ heads and gets in [the teachers’] heads as well, because we are all facing a new world.”

Teachers must convey a sense of calm and readiness to students at all times despite however the teachers feel about the decision, Stuckey said.

“We set the tone for these babies to be stressed or not be stressed,” she said. “We’ve got to assure them that they are in a safe environment and if something happens then we are going to take care of it.”

The task force voted July 7 to approve two academic options.

The first is an online academy that will be 100% online. Parents are asked to commit for the semester. The second option is on-site learning Monday through Friday and will incorporate blended learning within the classrooms.

Brouke Reynolds, the school’s new online learning director, said about 2,200 students in the 8,000-student school district have signed up for the online academy.

McGee said the plan is to use current employees on staff for the online-only option, rather than hiring teachers from outside the district. Reynolds addressed concerns about putting too much of a workload on teachers, saying the plan calls for designated online academy educators and in-person educators.

“We are going to try to avoid having teachers do both,” she said. “The ones who might have to do both are teachers who teach electives, just because of the nature of the class.”

Stuckey said panic was high in the district March 12 when schools closed.

School officials don’t want a repeat of that situation when they open, she said, so for the first few weeks teachers will emphasize blended learning and call it by that name in case there is another shutdown.

“We are preparing to go virtual if that were to happen, but not in a way that there is this sense of impending doom, because kids left these buildings crying on March 12,” Stuckey said. “We want them to know that everything is going to be OK. We are doing blended learning because this is the future of education. That is how we present it.”

For several weeks school officials have discussed an alternating-day schedule in which students would be split into A and B groups. The A group would attend classes Monday and Tuesday, and the B group would attend classes Thursday and Friday. The building would be sanitized Wednesday.

The plan was voted down earlier this month, but the option was brought back to the forefront during Monday’s meeting after task force members mentioned the public seemed to be in favor of the idea.

McGee said he met with state representatives and senators Monday when they discussed the plan for the upcoming school year. He said the most vital need will be internet access for all students.

“If we can make that happen, then we can explore other options,” McGee told task force members.

McGee said he wanted to send out a new survey to teachers and students to gauge who would need internet support. He said the survey also might be conducted over the phone and mentioned choosing a facility where parents can go and fill out the forms as well.

Robert Birch, director of development and a task force member, said the process of how to address the school year has been divisive, mentioning how he received messages all weekend from teachers and parents who want to weigh in on the issue.

“What parents and teachers have to understand is that we are not going to please everyone,” he said. “We have got to come to a decision that works best for the assets we have in place.”