Schools increase in-person options
Move comes as state offers supplemental federal funding
A measure passed this week in the state Legislature requires school districts to offer at least 20 hours per week of in-person learning in order to receive supplemental federal funding.
That may have played a role Thursday night when the Royal Oak Schools Board of Education voted to increase it’s in-person options though the district superintendent did not mention the added funding in announcing the change Friday.
“We are a few weeks into our in-person learning plan and the students who have selected to come in-person are doing well. The students learning remotely join their classsmates daily, all while our staff make it happen for everyone,” said Mary Beth Fitzpatrick, Superintendent of Royal Oak Schools.
“At the Board of Education
meeting on March (11) we presented a new schedule which expands in-person and remote learning learning through longer class periods for all secondary students. In-person learning for elementary now spans four days a week instead of two, which we started on March 1.
“We have always had a long-term goal to return to a more normal school year at some point, so this is a welcomed shift in our plan.”
In a letter to parents sent via email Friday afternoon, Fitzpatrick outlined the new plan. It includes:
• Elementary: In-person offerings increased from two to four days with no cohorting. All students opting for in-person instruction will be with their homeroom teacher each day while those opting for remote learning will have multiple teachers assigned by subject. Fridays will be synchronous (morning only) for all students.
• Middle School: In-person and remote instruction will be offered. For those opting for in-person, instruction time will run from 8 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. with students taking 75-minute classes.
“Physical distancing will be closer to 3 feet, and less in some cases; desk shields are being ordered for this purpose,” the email states.
• Royal Oak High School: In-person classes will be offered five days a week with alternating block scheduling offered.
As with the middle school, the same physical distancing limitations are likely.
• Churchill Community High School: Returning to in-person instruction on March 17, Tuesday through Friday. Students will have three classes during two, six-week periods throughout the trimester. Two of the three will be in-person and the third will be virtual.
A number of Oakland County districts already are at 20 hours or more of in-person instruction per week, but several others are grappling with whether they should juggle schedules to receive the funding as Royal Oak officials did Thursday night.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 4048 on Tuesday, March 9. It requires districts to implement the 20 hours per week by March 22, although local districts say they’ve been told the date may be extended as late as April 12.
Many area districts began the school year last fall with all students learning remotely because of the coronavirus. Later, most districts pivoted to in-person learning but on a parttime basis.
The following Oakland County districts are already providing in-person learning for a full day, five days per week, at every grade level:
• Brandon
• Clarkston
• Huron Valley
• Novi
• Oxford
• Rochester
• Walled Lake
• Waterford
The Farmington Public Schools Board of Education voted 6-0 Tuesday to relax a 6-foot social distancing measure to allow increased in-person instruction.
Farmington students began in-person learning in mid-January. Currently, elementary students attend face-to-face school for 2.5 hours per day in either a morning or afternoon cohort, for a total of 10 hours per week.
Secondary students are also split into two cohorts who attend in person two days a week, for a total of 13 hours per week.
Board of Education members said at Tuesday’s meeting that school administration was finding it difficult to increase the in-person hours without reducing the 6-foot social distance.
Board Vice President Zach Rich called the Legislature’s action “despicable,” as the bill passed only two weeks before the deadline to reach 20 hours per week of face-to-face learning.
Other board members said teachers have expressed concern about safety with the 6-foot rule being loosened.
The West Bloomfield School District Board of Education considered a proposal from the administration Monday that would have reduced the 6 feet of social distancing and eliminated cohorts as a means of reaching the 20-hour mandate.
The board took no action, and several board members said they did not want to rush a decision that could have unintended consequences. However, the board will likely revisit the matter soon.
Officials voted last month to remain in a hybrid learning mode for the rest of the school year.