Hybrid learning approved for Anne Arundel schools
Teachers, elementary students are expected to return in November
“If the board moves forward with the hybrid model, we’re going to give parents a choice and I want everybody to understand that it is going to be messy.”
Anne Arundel Superintendent George Arlotto
The Anne Arundel Board of Education met in personWednesday night for the first time since March, voting for a hybrid plan that will bring students back to classrooms inNovember.
With desks spaced apart and people masked inside the building in Annapolis and a motorcade of teachers protesting outside, board members discussed reopening plans for the second time this week — this time voting 5-3-1 to support the plan the superintendent presented Monday but delaying the timeline by a week.
Teachers are expected to return Nov. 2, and elementary students will have the option to begin returning Nov. 16. The expectation is to have 20 to 24 students enrolled in eachhybrid class with10to12 of those students ina classroomat a time.
To do this, elementary schools will be split into two cohorts on a rotating schedule. Students will have two days of
in-person classroom sessions and three days online.
Two motions on the plan were presented, one in support and one to continue online learning.
Vice President Melissa Ellis urged members to support a return to classrooms, citing surveys results from parents over the summer and elementary school parents who have asked to send their children back to schools.
“Elementary students should not be required to sit at desks throughout the day, andwith somemodifications should indeed enjoy a more normal and developmentally appropriate classroomexperience,” she said.
Board member Julie Hummer asked members to continue online learning and advocated targeting resources for students who cannot learn online like students with special needs.
“Virtual learning is offering a robust and safe alternative at this time but there are students who are not thriving,” she said.
Board members Ellis, Eric Grannon, Terry Gilleland, Bob Leib and board President Michelle Corkadel voted for the hybrid plan.
School board members Hummer, Dana Schallheim and Drake Smith voted to continue online learning for all except for specific groups. Candace Antwine abstained.
Despite presenting the plan to begin some classroom instruction before the end of the calendar year, Superintendent George Arlotto recommended keeping online instruction going for the remainder of the semester.
“If the board moves forward with the hybrid model, we’re going to give parents a choice and Iwant everybody to understand that it is going to be messy,” Arlotto said, focusing on limited inperson interactions.
“For those reasons and others, I think this community needs to settle into the virtual learning.”
Leib questioned Arlotto’s recommendation, saying he had askedMonday if the hybrid plan could be implemented despite the challenges. He said the board should move forward with the plan and support students who need in-person learning the most.
“We’re working for those kids that need to return to school. We’re not working for those kids that have a nice virtual nest at home,” he said.
Others, including Corkadel, highlighted students who need to go back to in-person learning, saying some needs cannot be “replicated in the virtual environment” and teachers should get back to in-person routines.
“We have to rise above the fear and recognize our role that we play to get us to recovery,” she said.
School board members brought up concerns about the possible changes in relationships if parents select onlineonly learning and the need to hear from the public in live testimony.
“We can take a little bit more time with it and not rush to a decision. We need to ask our parents and reach out to communities that are underserved,” Schallheim said.
The delay, requested by the superintendent, will allow teachers to apply for accommodations including childcare.
All teachers are expected to return to classroomsonNov. 2, prekindergarten to second grade will begin hybrid learning on Nov. 16 and grades 3 to 5 will begin Nov. 30.
Under the plan, the school system will incorporate health and safety precautions such as multiple entrances, face masks and spacing out desks. Visitors will not be allowed in the schools and common spaces like the cafeteria and teachers’ loungeswill not be used.
Teachers will also be encouraged to use outside spaces to give children a mask break and have fresh air.
Smith asked the board to schedule a public hearing by Nov. 25 to discuss the reopening plan.
As boardmembersdiscussed the plan, teachers drove around outside with signs on cars and called on Arlotto and his administration to sit downwith their union to come up with a plan for a safe in-person learning environment.
Russell Leone, president of theTeachers Association of Anne Arundel County, said though the union had a chance to talk to the school system teachers want to be part of the planning process.
“What we are looking for is mutually worked on and mutually agreed on — those are things that will help us sustain an opening,” Leone said.
North County High School teacher Maureen Liakos said that while the superintendent has talked about meeting with the union, teachers have not been heard.
Liakos said the school system presented a plan with classroomnumbersof 20 to 24 elementary school students but it is different for high school as classes at North County reach 30 students.
“We are at the table, however, we have no voice at the table,” she said.
County Executive Steuart Pittman, who presented details from a mental health task force to the board during the meeting, took time to address teachers and parents who took part in the car caravan outside.
“While I came out on Monday and said I supported theplan– andIdothink it is a good plan – I do feel that now we are in a moment and it is time to listen,” he said.