Parents raise concerns on district move to classrooms

Other parents support combination in-person, virtual learning plan

Parents have sent a petition letter signed by over 450 people to the Royal Oak Schools board asking themto reconsider the district’s plan to combine in-person classes with virtual learning next month.

Meantime, otherparents have a Change.org petition with over 200 signatures calling on the district to begin the process of returning to in- class learning.

The district’s board of education last week heard from Superintendent Mary Beth Fitzpatrick and other administrators on the plan to offer in-person classes starting Nov. 9 for elementary and middle school students.

Those students would be attending class twice a week and doing virtual learning on the other three days. Roughly half of a school’s students would attend classes on alternate days to limit

the number of people in a building as part of the precautions against spreading COVID-19.

The school district was set to start the school year with the hybrid approach of inperson and virtual learning, but decided to hold off. High school students continue to have virtual instruction, with access to small group or individual meetings with teachers by appointment.

Boardmembers approved the plan during the summer. That plan, with some changes, was reviewed at last week’s board meeting, but many parents say there should be a board vote and more discussion on details.

Ftiz patrick said it is the responsibility of administrators to work out the details of the hybrid plan the board approved earlier.

“The board’s charge was to review the hybrid plan it approved in August and the administration is charged with making it work on dayto-day schedules,” she said.

Parents who have organized through a private Facebook group called Royal Oak Schools Unheard Voices have submitted a petition to the school officials asking for the school board to deliberate and vote on the return-to-class plan.

Their four-page letter raises more than a dozen questions and issues, including the risk of COVID-19 from attending school classes. The number of cases has increased since the district’s board of education voted to approve the hybrid learning plan, they say

“We do not have a great deal of evidence from large scale return to learning plans in districts similar to our own over time that have not receded back to virtual learning due to (COVID-19) outbreaks,” according to the letter.

Parents want school officials to reconsider the plan and answer their questions, including whether having each student return to class for two days a week is worth the potential fallout.

“We feel there are a lot of risks in the plan with very little reward,” said Kim Saks McManaway, whose twin children attend second grade at Keller Elementary. “The risk is high enough and we know it’s going to get higher when we move into flu and cold season … Personally, I would like (the district) to remain with the virtual plan they have right now.”

The district is more prepared now to return to inclass teaching than it was before, Fitzpatrick said. The Oakland County Health Division has provided consultation with two nurses assigned to the district. They have been given specific directions on responding to any COVID-19 cases and rules for quarantine, she added. OCHD has reviewed the district’s on-site plans and gives the district weekly updates on COVID-19 trends in the community.

“I believe virtually all of the school districts in the county are going back to having classes, or have plans to do so,” Fitzpatrick said.

Further, the superintendent noted face-to-face teaching has more of an impact and better addresses student’s social and emotional needs to have contact with teachers and peers.

“The pandemic situation cannot be predicted,” she said. “We are being asked to make decisions, sometimes daily, in response to the changing landscape of this virus. Parents need to make the best decisions for their families as well.”

McManaway is not en-thusiastic about the Virtual Academy the district contracted in August to offer to parents who don’t want to send children back to school. It is different from the remote learning program led by Royal Oak teachers that the district has offered as well.

“You have thousands of families trying to figure this out,” she said. “The Virtual Academy is very prepackaged, requires a high level of parent involvement, and is not a true alternative … if I put my kids in that (program) they would lose their teachers.”

The separate Change.org petition for parents, started by residents Becky Novack and Liz Quinn, says children need to be back in the classroom.

“Many local districts have begun the transition back to the classroomin some capacity,” the petition states. “It is time for Royal Oak to move forward with a face-to-face plan.”

The petition acknowledges safety is a concern.

“However, with sports, other local districts, and private schools finding away to bring children together in a safe way, we have faith that RoyalOakSchools candothe same,” the petition reads.