Collierville Schools adds, extends remote learning
In an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, “resulting from anticipated exposures over the Thanksgiving break,” Collierville Schools announced Saturday that the district would transition West Collierville Middle School students to remote learning through Dec. 4 — and extend remote learning for Collierville High School and Collierville Middle School students through the same date.
“It is the district’s belief that this decision will limit the potential pool of positive close contacts and required quarantines,” Collierville Schools said in a statement posted on the district’s site, elaborating on the decision to implement remote learning across all secondary schools throughout the week after Thanksgiving.
As for plans following Dec. 4, the district said it will be “reassessing the need for continued remote instruction on a weekly basis” while monitoring cases.
According to Collierville Schools’ statement, students’ parents and caregivers received contradictory messages over the weekend. Communications that were written and scheduled before the holiday break, “regarding the return of students to in-person instruction on Monday, November 30th,” were initially sent to parents.
But over the holiday break, the district decided otherwise, according to the statement, as a “pro-active effort to mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19”.
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Collierville High School went virtual for one day, while classes at Collierville Middle School have been virtual since Nov. 16.
As of that date, the middle school had five active cases of COVID-19 and “a large number” of students and staff quarantined, according to a district announcement.
The exact number of active Collierville High School cases as of Nov. 19, when the school went virtual, is unclear.
Collierville School’s COVID-19 notification dashboard has not been updated since Nov. 20 and it does not provide school-level information regarding staff cases. As of Nov. 20, there were 24 active cases in the district, split evenly among students and staff.
A district spokesperson did not immediately respond Sunday as to whether new cases were identified over the Thanksgiving break, prompting the extension of remote learning at Collierville Middle School and Collierville High School and the onset of virtual learning at West Collierville Middle.
Since September, teachers within the district have requested Collierville Schools leadership consider switching to an entirely virtual model, according to school board meeting minutes and a letter sent by Collierville High School teachers and staff members to superintendent Gary Lilly, his assistant, board members, the chief of human resources and the high school principal.
The group requested entirely virtual instruction through Jan. 15 and called for the school to remain in its hybrid schedule throughout the first half of 2021, according to the letter, obtained by The Commercial Appeal.
“We can only hope that this will help slow the rise in the numbers we’ve been experiencing over the past few weeks. It is our hope that you will help us protect our students, families and ourselves,” the letter states.
The teachers also wrote that eight students had been reported as COVID-19 positive along with five staffers on Nov. 18.
Collierville High School went virtual the following day. In its announcement, the administration stated the change was “due to a large number of personnel vacancies, which include scheduled requests, seasonal illnesses, active COVID-19 cases and active quarantine numbers.”
Education reporter Laura Testino contributed to this report.