District switches to remote learning

Madison Schools will temporarily switch to remote learning for all students because of the heavy toll that the novel coronavirus pandemic is taking on the district.

In-person learning for students at all of the district’s schools will be paused starting Nov. 16 and continuing through Nov. 30, Superintendent Angela Smith said in a Nov. 12 announcement.

“W hile (COV ID -19) cases among students are beginning to increase, we are also having to quarantine personnel,” Smith said. “This is limiting our ability to continue our face-to-face instruction.”

In conjunction with the transition to all remote learning from Nov. 16 through Nov. 30, the

district also is pausing all sports and activities during this same stretch.

“Coaches and advisers will be able to meet with their groups virtually, but all scheduled events will be paused,” Smith said.

The district intends to resume in-person learning at all buildings on Dec. 1, if conditions are safe enough to warrant a return.

“Please know that it will be based on the trajectory of the virus in our community, as well as our students and staff,” she said.

During the two weeks that students will be out of the schools, all of these buildings will be deepcleaned. District administrators also will review all of Madison Schools’ COVID-19 protocols.

Up until this week, very few COVID-19 cases had been recorded in Madison Schools, Smith said.

“The situation in our school community is beginning to mirror what is happening in the rest of the state,” she noted.

Smith said that anxiety among Madison students had been higher this week as the COVID-19 escalated in the district.

“We know that in-person learning is the best place for our students and this decision to go remote was not made lightly,” she said.

For the 2020-21 academic year, about 66 percent of Madison students have chosen to receive in-person instruction, while approximately 33 percent attend virtual classes, the superintendent said.

Madison Schools has not used a hybrid attendance model — mixing in-person and remote learning on dif ferent days of the week — at all during this academic year, and has no intention to offer such a plan going forward, Smith said.