District to start hybrid learning model

Allows students choice of combining in-person and virtual

The Oberlin City School District is getting ready to return to in-person classes Jan. 20 with a hybrid model.

“The decision was based on the recommendations of the (county) health department and monitoring the COVID situation in the Lorain County area,” said David Hall, superintendent of Oberlin City Schools.

“We also have to have those protocols and things in place, and we are just finalizing the plans.

“What helped make the decision was the vaccine is coming out shortly. We are the 1B group, so all that factored in.”

Hall said the district will follow a basic hybrid model.

“It’s Wednesdays and Thursdays for grades 3-12, and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for K-2,” he said.

“Most of the schoolwork will still be done virtually and students will have the option to stay in e-learning if they do not want to come back.

“We sent a survey out and about half our parents said they wanted to come back to school.”

Hall said there is some eagerness for some teachers and students to get back to in-person learning.

“Plus, we already have 100 or so students coming into the building to use our virtual learning center and some special programs we have for tutorial support, so we are comfortable with students coming in,” he said.

“Of course, anxiety is going to happen, but we are trying to do everything possible to provide as much support to teachers, staff, students and parents as possible.”

Hall said the district informed parents of what students need to do.

“One of the things we did was we provided a video for the parents to show them what to expect with the protocols from a student perspective,” he said. “We will give them time to hand sanitize and make sure they wear masks.

“We will have the students social distance and we have the plexiglass on desks, and we also have the face shields being worn. We also have these classrooms equipped with wipes, extra gloves, extra masks and disinfecting spray. We also have additional cleaning staff.”

Hall said the plan for inperson has changed from the initial planning.

“In the beginning of the year, we had plans for different levels,” he said. “We had plans for what a hybrid model would look like, but as time went on, it kind of evolved a little bit.

“So, for the past couple of months, we’ve been working on this plan. We initially started with coming back one day (per week) before we moved to two. We wanted to do a slow start.

“I know other schools are doing more. But, we are doing the couple of days and we will reevaluate with the teachers after a couple of weeks and see if we can increase to more days.”

Hall said the district will continue to have discussions throughout the process of in-person learning.

“We spoke with the union yesterday, and basically, we all agree that we have never been through something like this before,” he said. “We will have meetings after school as we continue to fine-tune everything.

“We’ve been able to lean on some of our neighboring school districts and we found some things that worked for them, some things that did not. We’ve been able to make some adjustments to those plans.

“We will have professional development for our teachers on Tuesday (Jan. 19) to fine-tune any questions they may have, and get ready for the kids on Wednesday (Jan. 20).”