Schools discuss ‘remote academy’
Online forum fields questions, complaints
Two weeks into the school year, with some students back at their desks most mornings and logged in from home in the afternoon, and others on an all-remote track, the new hybrid learning model the Ayer Shirley Regional School District’s “remote academy” received mixed reviews during an online forum for parents and guardians Monday night.
Superintendent of Schools Mary Malone hosted the Zoom meeting with a panel of administrators, special-education and tech directors and others lined up to answer questions submitted via Chat.
Unlike previous sessions, there was no presentation, aside from a short video showing firstday scenes and classrooms with desks set six feet apart. The focus this time was on the home front and technical issues students and parents may be having as they adjust to the district’s new normal.
With the hybrid model clearly an uphill climb for almost everyone who submitted a question, comment or suggestion, the take-away was that things are going fairly well, all things considered, but with kinks to be ironed out.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and with related health and safety rules and restrictions in place,
school districts statewide faced unprecedented challenges this year as they mapped out fall reopening plans.
The district, which, like all other school districts, closed for in-person learning in late March per the governor’s order, assembled a task force to review back-to-school issues and recommend a plan. The plan the group came up with over the summer has three main elements and many moving parts.
Basically, the “hybrid” model – approved by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and implemented when school started in September — combines part-time, in-person instruction for K-12 students, with a remote component, as well as the all-remote option.
Fielding questions Monday night, mostly computer-related, Malone said the remote setup can be “unreliable” at times, with problems at both ends. If difficulties arise at home, parents are asked to “please let us know,” she said, adding that someone would get back to them.
The speed of some home internet connections might not be fast enough, she said, and that could cause some log-in problems that people are reporting. Families that
need assistance with upgrading can contact the school, she said.
Those having difficulty helping their kids navigate the online system should call as well.
“We couldn’t train students for it back in March,” Malone said.
Several comments were complimentary. The kindergarten remote teacher is a “rock star,” for example. But several people noted technical problems.
One area of concern is the unified-arts program, aka specials, with log-in difficulties, plus connective ins and outs while a class — art or music, for example — is in progress. Also, those classes are only 30 minutes long, and taking attendance, roll-call style, consumes too much time, some said, and there should be another way to do it.
The parent of an elementaryschool student asked how a student on “full remote” can hand in late work for credit. With six kids of various ages who attend different schools, she’s juggling schedules, and her youngster at Lura A. White Elementary School sometimes logs in late or misses an assignment.
White Principal Beth Lewis answered her question, although she was apparently unaware of the problem.
“I hope they’d reach out to the teacher…There should be a grace period,” she said.
Tech Director Mike Thibeault said the parent can also get daily
classroom schedules if she asks to be added to the “Google Classroom” email list.
Other Chat suggestions included creating a consistent daily schedule, so each class has the same time slot every day. Someone else asked about creating a schedule outside the See Saw platform, so parents can look in to see what their kids are working on.
Page Hilltop tech teacher Kristin Mayo may be able to help with that, Malone said, noting Mayo’s new job as the district’s literacy specialist and remote-learning coordinator.
Another suggestion called for a “remote help line” to help find materials, among other things.
“We’re working on it,” Thibeault said, and a live-chat option should be ready in a couple weeks.
One parent questioned if the remote part of the program be changed to half days because it’s tough to keep kids focused on screen all day.
“We’re looking into it,” Malone said, but the district is working on another aspect of the problem, she said: organizing apps.
Online tools can be reconfigured to decrease the number of log-ins, Thibeault said.
Ultimately, the goal is to use a single remote go-to, such as Google Meet, which should simplify the process, although some teachers use Zoom now. It’s another issue they’re working on, Malone said.