The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
District says some students to head back
Older students can use remote learning
Lorain City Schools’ elementary students could return to the classroom when instruction resumes Sept. 8, despite the novel coronavirus pandemic.
But middle school and high school students could use remote learning for the start of 2020-2021 school year to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
The district’s draft return-toschool plan was presented July 30 in a joint meeting of the Lorain City Schools Academic Distress Commission and Board of Education.
“It comes down to, we need to know where we are, we need to know where we want to be and we need to know how to get there,” Graham said. “I think we’re there for most of it.
“Again, the why, we wanted to focus on our most vulnerable students,” he said. “One thing we know for sure is that no one’s safe. The only thing we can do is take precautions to decrease the likelihood that someone gets it or transmits it.”
More details are expected to develop before teachers and staff return for school year preparations starting Aug. 17.
Vetting of the plan will start Aug. 3, with a revised plan expected by Aug. 7. Three days after that, Lorain Schools stakeholders will walk through the plan, said Ross May, executive director of strategic planning, data and process.
Lorain Schools families, staff and administrators make an excellent team, May said. But they will make mistakes, so it is important to find those quickly for correction. Graham agreed. “It’s about listening, learning and leading,” Graham said. He added they may be wrong some time, but the process is an honorable one.
Aug. 10 is the same day as the next school board meeting, said board President Mark Ballard.
In the joint meeting July 30, the school leaders spent more than two and a half hours discussing findings of staff and family surveys seeking responses about how school could happen in a pandemic.
The school leaders heard summaries from eight internal work groups that presented the things they know about the upcoming school year and the things they don’t.
Those groups analyzed the various aspects of conducting school, including communication, extracurriculars, human resources, instruction, operations, student services, technology and student and family management.
Based on public health and safety findings, elementary students would head back to their schoolhouses, but middle and elementary students will study using computers in their own houses.
The return to the classroom also will depend on
Online: See more of the Lorain Schools presentation at www.MorningJournal.com
the state of Ohio’s colorcoded public emergency level system, May said.
For example, parents of elementary students could choose between in-class or remote learning during a yellow level one, active exposure and spread, or orange level two, increased exposure and spread.
But elementary classes will switch to distance learning entirely if Lorain County lands in the upper levels of risk, with level three, red, warning of very high exposure and spread, and level four, purple, severe exposure and spread.
The family survey results showed more than half of parents were uncomfortable about sending students back to school, with worry increasing as students went up in grades.
The survey asked, based on what you know right now, how comfortable would you be sending your child to school?
For elementary school students, 51.06 percent of parents said they would be uncomfortable; that rose to 58.98 percent of middle school parents and 60.2 percent of high school students’ parents.
It was clear a majority of parents across all grade levels would support their children being required to wear masks in school.
At all grade levels, it was clear coronavirus safety was a concern, either spreading among students and school staff, or someone bringing it home to a vulnerable family member. One of the high school themes was “sense of fear from families - concerned about what could happen if anyone tests positive.”
Among the findings, it also was clear Lorain Schools parents feel online learning must improve from what was offered in the spring.
Lorain Schools will use three weeks at the end of August for teacher training to improve the remote learning.
Pre-K and first grade students will get tablets for their lessons, while students in grades two through 12 will get laptop computers to learn on.
The entire meeting is expected to be posted for viewing via Lorain Schools’ TV20 channel.