DPS start may be delayed
Time would allow staff to prepare, help equip students’ homes
Denver Public Schools is considering delaying the beginning of the school year by one week and may use a “staggered start” approach to allow schools to begin the fall semester in a remote format and gradually welcome students back for in-person learning.
Superintendent Susana Cordova notified teachers and parents Wednesday morning of the potential changes, saying in an email that the one-week delay would allow teachers extra time to prepare for what she called a “highly unusual school year” and decrease the number of hot August days that students and staff members will be in classrooms.
An extra week also would allow faculty members to reconnect with students and ensure they have the appropriate technology, such as computers, hot spots and internet access, for the fall semester, Cordova said during a webinar Wednesday morning.
The consideration of a delayed start by Colorado’s largest school district comes as other metro-area districts, including Aurora and Douglas County, already have made such a move.
DPS’s fall semester is slated to begin Aug. 17 but may be pushed back until Aug. 24 for most schools.
Additionally, Cordova said the district is considering a “stag
gered start” schedule, which would allow all schools to begin in a virtual or remote format and gradually phase students back into classrooms. She said DPS has worked with health officials to develop plans for both fully in-person and hybrid education models “as health data allows.”
In her email, Cordova told parents and staffers that she expects to share more details about these decisions on Monday.
The notice comes as parents and teachers raise COVID-related health and safety concerns about the forthcoming school year.
Cordova addressed the rising number of coronavirus cases across the country, specifically in California, where the state’s two largest school districts announced this week they will not be opening for in-person instruction and instead opting for remote education.
“We believe that the current rate of spread in our community does allow us to continue forward with a plan for in-person learning, but please know that we are monitoring the ever-changing environment daily,” Cordova wrote.
After first proposing a hybrid model, DPS instead has offered families to enroll in either 100% in-person or 100% online education for the fall, but many parents remain undecided because they say they don’t have enough information about what classes in either format will look like.
The Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest union of teachers and support workers, recently detailed protocols it believes would need to be in place before faculty members would return to work, acknowledging that some of its members may not return at all if those are not met.
DPS is the latest metro district to entertain delaying the start of the school year.
The Douglas County School District announced Tuesday it would push back its first day of school to Aug. 17 to gain more time to prepare “for a safe and healthy in-person learning environment,” and get more feedback from the community on reopening plans.
And on Wednesday, Aurora Public Schools announced a one-week delay, with most students in grades one through 12 starting Aug. 18 and students in kindergarten and preschool starting Aug. 24.
“As we begin the new school year, we will need additional time to provide professional development for teachers and school staff about remote learning, curricular resources, health guidelines and more,” Superintendent Rico Munn wrote in an alert to parents.