January 26, 2021 – DPS61 will remain in virtual learning only through Friday, March 12, 2021.
Following the DPS Board of Education meeting, the board requested the school administration develop “a robust” plan for return to in-person instruction to begin following Spring Break scheduled for March 15-19.
The administration says they will be seeking public input during sessions to provide feedback on the plan and how to address student academic needs.
The following statement was read by Board President Beth Nolan:
We, as the Board of Education, would like to begin this meeting with our collective thoughts around returning to in-person learning at Decatur Public Schools.
Since the Governor shut down school last March, many conversations have been had about the re-entry of students into our buildings. By nature of our school communities, when we gather, we are automatically a super-spreader event. Our smallest elementary building has nearly 300 people and our largest high school has more than 1,200 people every day.
As Board members, we have given overarching thoughts to the administration regarding the return to learn plans. This process is their responsibility to research, benchmark with other districts, and gain all stakeholder input including students, parents, guardians, teachers, and staff before bringing forward a plan for implementation. There have been several attempts over the last months to return students to the classroom, but each time they have been met with obstacles too difficult to overcome, many of which were out of their control.
When we have listened to our administrative team, we did so as board members, parents, and community stakeholders. Collectively, we as a board have students in DPS that range in grade from Pre-K through 12th grade. We personally have children who are thriving in the virtual learning environment and some who are struggling each day. Several of us have children representing both ends of that spectrum within our own homes. As we started to hear preliminary ideas for the return to learn in early February, we were concerned. Many of the questions we had been asking from our parent perspective and questions being asked of us from other concerned stakeholders – teachers, staff, community members – were not being addressed.
As we consider every decision in the District, we look to our strategic plan as our guide. Strategy #2 states we will establish an environment to ensure the safety of all students. We recognize that in order for our students to be safe, our teachers and staff have to be safe as well.
With the aforementioned in mind, we have asked District administration to bring forward during our regularly scheduled Open Session meeting on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, the following:
- A return to learn recommendation that brings students back to the classroom after Spring Break with the following criteria:
- Significant input from district stakeholders – parents, staff, teachers.
- As many days of in-person instruction as possible while still maintaining all mandated safety precautions.
- A robust virtual learning plan that is equal to the learning that will be happening in the classroom for those families who choose to remain virtual. We are committed to the most equitable experience possible, so families are not forced to choose between their children learning and keeping their children and family safe.
- A plan that fully abides by orders that are in place from the Governor’s office, including social distancing, percentage of capacity per room, face masks, etc.
- A plan that considers more pathways for vaccination and the possibility of antibody testing to help ease our teacher and staff concerns around returning to in-person learning.
- A plan that addresses how to safely bring students and staff back together for extra-curricular activities as soon as possible. This does not have to wait until after Spring Break. If administration can put together a plan that brings students back for sports, music, arts, clubs, etc., we can implement that as soon as possible.
- A plan that considers a percentage of students in each building that must opt to return to in-person learning in order for the entire building to return.
Our hope is that when all points are addressed, our district stakeholders will feel comfortable with, and supportive of, the recommendation that is brought forward.
We know this pandemic has left students behind, and there is urgency to return to a normal learning environment, not just for the academic wellness of our students but for their social and emotional wellness as well. This is not just true of DPS, but across the globe. As we have stated several times in the last few months, we need to focus just as much energy on how students will get caught up after the world begins to return to normal.
On February 23, 2021, we have asked District administration to bring forward a plan that will address getting our students, who may have fallen behind during this time, where they need to be academically. The plan needs to have the following elements:
- Input from all stakeholders including teachers, parents, students, community partners who will also be helping our students – i.e. Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, etc.
- A strong collaboration with all DPS impacted unions
- Creative educational opportunities that include:
- Non-traditional time frames for learning – i.e. summer, evening, and weekend learning options
- Leveraging technology that our teachers and students have adapted to using
- Specific use for the federal funds that we have been allotted to address this issue
In closing, there is no playbook for the issues we have faced. Districts across the state are tackling these issues in a variety of ways, each to fit their unique needs. Our district has 1,500 employees and 8,800 students. Each of those students has at least one family member or guardian and most have multiple people involved in their daily lives. If you add that up, the decisions that are made at Decatur Public Schools directly impact the daily lives of more than 27,000 people. We recognize the magnitude of our decisions and we want our District families, along with the community, to know what is being asked for in a return to learn plan for Decatur Public Schools.
We look forward to hearing next steps from our administration and to having our students’ voices fill the hallways of our buildings.
