Virtual & Hybrid Learning
In the previous edition of the Ken-Ton Weekly Connection, I outlined our approach to confront the instructional impact of the pandemic. We are taking two approaches. One is exploring opportunities for more direct student/teacher contact time and in-person instruction. The other is short-term and long-term intervention strategies.
We know the loss of in-person instructional time has had a detrimental academic impact, especially on our youngest students. It remains our goal to get students back into the classroom to the greatest extent possible. A major factor that contributes to the challenge of bringing students back is the required 6 feet of social distancing at all times. This necessitates a hybrid schedule for most school districts because classrooms are not big enough to accommodate all students at the same time.
Regardless of this challenge, we want to continue to find ways to increase our in-person learning and have more students in school regularly. One of the biggest factors that we have to consider is how many students are in any given classroom at any given time. Additional considerations include the number of students arriving or dismissing at schools, our ability to host lunch for greater numbers of students, as well as our ability to transition students throughout the school at any point during the day, from class to class and from one location to another.
With this being said, we are still offering fully virtual (VLA) instruction through the end of June 2021. More information on the 2021-22 school year will come out as guidance from the state continues to develop over the next few months. I need our current VLA families to make a decision on whether they intend to return to hybrid instruction this school year to empower us to continue to improve and change our instructional model. Until now, we have allowed our VLA families to return to hybrid instruction when they choose, and have saved each student's seat in the physical classroom. We will not be able to continue that practice while simultaneously developing plans for increased in-person attendance.
Keep in mind that it may take a week or two to adjust schedules and bus routing in order to transition students from VLA to in-person instruction. Therefore, we need this decision made on or before Monday, March 8. VLA families should understand that a lack of notification to the district of a switch to in-person instruction will indicate your commitment to virtual learning for the rest of this school year. VLA families will be receiving a letter electronically and in the mail that details this change. We will not be able to make any exceptions, because this would compromise our ability to increase in-person instruction and meet the state’s social distancing requirement. Likewise, students will not be able to switch from hybrid to VLA instruction, because of the staffing challenges associated with fully virtual instruction.
There will be significant difficulties involved with bringing more students back into the classroom during the pandemic. We must be prepared to confront this together as a community.
NYS Assessments
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Education informed states that it will not be granting a blanket waiver for state assessments. This means that states will be required to meet federal testing requirements. We do know that the U.S. Department of Education has made it clear that assessments will not be required for accountability purposes. The NYS Education Department is working on a plan that they will release in the near future. The NYS Education Department is in the process of reviewing its options and developing proposed regulatory amendments which will be considered at the next Board of Regents meeting in March. These regulatory amendments will provide clarity on how state tests will be carried out.
Revised 2020-21 Calendar
At the February 9 Board of Education meeting, the Board approved a revised 2020-21 school year calendar which includes three important changes. You can access the calendar at www.ktufsd.org/calendar. The first is a change to the Superintendent Conference Day scheduled for Friday, March 19. This day has been moved to Wednesday, March 17, to provide an additional day of in-person attendance. For any students who would normally attend on Fridays, March 19 will be a day of in-person instruction.
The second change is the addition of Juneteenth as a district holiday for students and staff. Going back to 1865, Juneteenth is a very important day that celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. It is now recognized as a public holiday in New York State. Since it falls on a Saturday this year, the holiday will be observed on Friday, June 18, so there will be no student or staff attendance that day.
The final change involves our plan for emergency days. With the addition of Juneteenth, our calendar now allows for up to three emergency days, which are typically used as snow days if needed. If more than the allotted number of emergency days are used, we would normally have to make up these days of lost instructional time. A new state program is allowing school districts to conduct remote learning as an alternative. Therefore, in Ken-Ton, in the event that we need additional emergency days beyond the three that are allotted, we will take advantage of this program. As you know, we have not used any emergency days thus far.
