Anne Arundel students return
Schools embrace inefficiencies as classes resume in person
The heat in Anne Arundel County Public Schools buildings is on as teachers and students return after nearly a year away, and while normally the objective would be to keep warm air in, this March, the windows are open to increase airflow and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
It isn’t the most efficient use of the building’s climate control, but it is what is needed right now.
“We are burning fuel with the windows open to improve ventilation. We are running our buses with the windows cracked for ventilation. There are many things we are not optimizing,” Chief Operating Officer Alex Szachnowicz told the Board of Education on Wednesday.
Board members and administrators said during a meeting Wednesday that they have heard from parents and students who are elated to be back in buildings two days a week.
“It has been exciting and fantastic to see so many smiling faces,” District 2 Representative Robert Silkworth said.
On Monday, elementary students also started taking the bus to school again. While there is a maximum capacity on the buses, one student per seat, Board Vice President Dana Schallheim said there are many buses with just one or two students on board. She is worried about the practice wasting money.
“We’re still paying for fuel when we could be more efficient,” she said.
Superintendent George Arlotto said they expect more families will want to access hybrid learning moving forward, meaning more students will need to take the bus. Their goal is to have as many students as they can accommodate back in a hybrid format. He said removing a bus from a route and combining it with another now would stunt their ability to transport students as more seek to return.
Arlotto said two elementary schools this week had a person test positive. Arlotto said following procedures like loading the buses from the back and unloading from the front reduces the need for students
to quarantine if they took the bus with a student who later learns they were infected because contact tracers can verify that contact was minimal because procedure was followed.
Arlotto said in February they had 812 students return in small groups at 14 schools. Arlotto introduced a new webpage to track cases at various schools in the county on Wednesday. It was expected to go live Wednesday night, and it would show the two cases. It will be updated weekly.
He said he is hopeful they will be able to bring back even more students this spring, and he said the goal for next fall is to be fully reopened. He said they don’t know what will happen with COVID, and they have virtual and hybrid as an option.
He said over the summer they want to use federal funding tied to the pandemic to offer programs at all grade levels that will include a chance to catch up on reading, math and high school credit. They also want to include some fun time and exercise to entice students to school in the summer.
Talking about the upcoming graduation, Arlotto said a group of principals and high school students are working on ideas for graduation. He said they still need to decide on a plan.
“We are absolutely committed to trying to do something in person for the class of 2021,” Arlotto said.