The Heritage School District Board of Education decided to support the decision to keep students in a hybrid learning model at this time Monday night.
Community members joined the Nov. 16 meeting to advocate for the hybrid model for those 388 district students who want to learn in-person. About 20-percent of Heritage students chose remote-only learning for the first semester. Heritage chose to outsource remote learning instead of trying to do synchronous learning.
The board, though, also talked about the threshold the district needs to establish to trigger that return to remote learning when cases become too much to handle.
Board and community members acknowledged that remote learning may be mandated by the state within the coming weeks as it was in March. The idea that students and teachers could have an immediate turnaround from in-person caused pause in the conversation throughout the discussion.
Teachers surveyed by the Heritage Education Association agreed that not having time to prepare students for the change would be problematic.
Heritage Education Association representative Justin Lee was asked by district administrators to survey the 59 teachers throughout the district to see where they stood on the idea of switching to remote at this point, as recommended by the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department.
“I’m very grateful to the administration of the district for really collaborating with us, looking for ideas, looking for input, constantly having a great conversation about where we are now and where we’re going. I feel very in the loop,” Lee said.
He reported that 14-percent of the 49 respondents said that they did not care if the district moved to remote or stayed in person through Christmas break; 39-percent said that they would like to move to all remote; and 47-percent said that they would like to stay in-person.
Lee said that 20 of the 49 teachers who responded added comments in the survey.
The first statement in support of going remote prior to what is mandated was that the district would be in control and be able to prepare students in the transition.
Heritage Elementary and Junior High Principal Kristi Sanders said that junior high students are versed in logging on to a remote classroom, but the elementary students would be more dependent.
Teachers felt that the staff health would be best “preserved” by going remote at this time.
Heritage High School Principal Corey White said that his school has been one teacher’s absence away from having to close for a couple weeks as members of the staff were in quarantine due to exposure to the virus.
“There’s just not enough subs out there to cover everything,” he added.
Teachers were also concerned that an increase of in-person and remote students who have to be quarantined would put stress on the system.
Teachers also commented in support of staying in-person for as long as possible, stating that the district, teachers, students and parents alike have adapted to the schedule they are currently on 61-days into the 2020-21 school year.
“Our teachers, especially those who have special needs students, were adamant that in-person instruction is best for them,” Lee said. “Also, the collection of RTI data which is mandated would have to continue regardless, and it’s much easier to do in person.”
Lee told the board that he intends to reapproach the district administration to see how they can meet the needs of those teachers who feel unsafe with in-person instruction.
“What can we do to make sure those discussions are held without prejudice without concern,” Lee said. “In this case the working environment in this case is a learning environment. When you have a good working environment you have a great learning environment. And we want to make sure that that continues.”
Heritage administration reported some of the best in-person attendance percentages they’ve ever seen, consistently at 90-percent a couple weeks after the first quarter, where the district went without any COVID-19 cases, ended.
Superintendent Tom Davis said that there have been some days when attendance has dipped to 70-percent, but he said that percentage is not uncommon for this time of year.
The one issue that weighed on the Heritage community heart was the lackluster internet connections in the rural school district. Looking at other school districts with a more robust digital infrastructure like Mahomet-Seymour, St. Joseph-Ogden and Unity, which have chosen to remain in-person, Heritage board members felt that it may be best for them to move in the same direction.
Even as parents shared their praise in the district’s mission to protect students and children and their willingness to communicate regularly, their message went in and out, oftentimes hard to hear or understand.
Understanding these local limitations, the board wanted to continue in person learning as long as possible.
CUPHD asked schools to go remote last Thursday, though, because of the community spread that has exploded in the last week. Just within the last 24 hours, Champaign County has added 737 cases, bringing the total active number to 1,509.
CUPHD Director Julie Pryde told local Superintendents that contact tracers are having trouble keeping up, and that local hospitals are nearing capacity.
Most of the spread within Champaign County is coming from get-togethers: dinners, game nights, birthday parties and restaurants or bars, according to Pryde. Going into Monday’s board meeting, board member Courtney Montgomery said that she was in favor of students staying in-person, but when her family tested positive for COVID-19, after following all of the guidelines, she realized just how serious the virus is, knowing that her family has mild symptoms, but that that’s not the case for everyone.
Montgomery, along with other board members, know that there would be a gap of resources in the Heritage School District should they go remote, but she said, “there needs to be a very firm line drawn in the sand that says once we get to this threshold, we’re done. And we shut it down until we fall back under that threshold.”
Board members agreed that if there would be more students learning remotely because of being positive or in quarantine due to exposure, than those that were in-person, then the district should go to full remote.
Montgomery echoed what White told the high school students at the beginning of the school year.
“That was very powerful,” Montgomery said.
White told students that they had to do their part to have the milestones and experiences that high school students should have each year.
“I think that messaging was super powerful in the beginning and I think it’s been reiterated again,” Montgomery said.
She called on community members to take the same message to heart.
“I think messaging like that needs to be the home of the families,” Montgomery said. “We are doing everything that we can, and clearly have done a really great job because the transmission in the school is so low.
“However, everything that you do outside of school and particularly now with the holidays coming up, please be cognizant that your choices may affect whether or not we can keep our doors open. Please proceed with caution.”
