Denver, others to stay online

Students across the Denver region will not return to their classrooms for the remainder of the academic year as public school districts keep their buildings closed in a continued effort to slow the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.

Fourteen metro-area districts, including Denver Public Schools, announced the decision to continue remote learning for the rest of the school year in a joint statement Friday.

“Our goal is to keep our kids learning and growing,” DPS Superintendent Susanna Cordova said at an afternoon news conference. “Not to fill the day with impossible lists of assignments, requirement and tasks. We know everyone is adjusting to the stay-athome order and new normal. All we’re asking is for everyone to try their best.”

The following districts announced that remote learning will continue through the end of the school year:

• 27J Schools.

• Adams 12 Five Star

Schools.

• Adams 14 Schools.

• Aurora Public Schools.

• Cherry Creek School District.

• Clear Creek School District.

• Denver Public Schools.

• Douglas County Schools.

• Englewood Schools.

• Jeffco Public Schools.

• Littleton Public Schools.

• Mapleton Public Schools.

• Sheridan School District 2.

• Westminster Public Schools.

At the news conference, Cordova reassured parents, teachers and students that she understood families and educators were entering uncharted territory with many people experiencing varied, difficult circumstances because of COVID-19.

DPS officials have taken the few weeks since their district closure to prepare to teach the more than 90,000 Denver students at a distance, trying to account for equity issues like lack of technology and internet access. Remote learning begins Tuesday in DPS.

Cordova said, understandably, the school day will look much different. Teachers may have children of their own at home while they’re trying to roll out instruction, she said.

Parents’ work schedules or access to learning tools may impede the ability to create a normal learning schedule every day.

Cordova asked families to check in with students’ teachers and be honest about their circumstances so schools know where their students are and can provide support when needed.

“We want to make sure we know and understand where kids are,” Cordova said.

The district is in the process of creating guidelines for a new grading system that will look similar to a pass-or-fail system as opposed to traditional letter grades.

“We want to make sure we’re not taking any kinds of punitive measures against any kids in our community,” Cordova said.

Once the statewide stayat-home order is lifted, the districts’ joint statement said, it’s expected that Colorado residents still will have restrictions on social distancing and the size of group gatherings for at least several weeks and, maybe, months.

“Given the nature of a school environment (classrooms, passing periods, buses, playgrounds, etc.), these restrictions are not practical within the school setting,” the statement said. “As such, there does not appear to be a viable way for us to convene traditional in-person learning this school year.”

DPS confirmed that, for its district, the announcement also includes the cancellation of all athletic events, extracurricular activities, prom and in-person graduation ceremonies.

On Wednesday, Gov. Jared Polis extended the closure of all public and private schools in Colorado through April 30 because of the pandemic, noting some districts would make the decision to continue with remote learning for the remainder of the school year.

Larimer County’s Thompson and Poudre school districts were the first in the state to announce the end to in-person learning for the rest of this school year on Thursday as the global COVID-19 pandemic upended most aspects of daily life.