A NEW START DATE AND MORE PLAN UPDATES
Early in our planning process I promised that we would share information about the upcoming school year as it becomes available because we know you need time to prepare as a family.
At the same time, our staff and teachers need to prepare too.
While we don’t have a draft of the plan to present to you today, we can share a number of details, which are included below. Perhaps the most significant right now is that we are postponing the start of school for students.
The first day of school for students will now be Tuesday, September 8th.
- Ten-month staff will still report for their first day on Tuesday, August 4th.
- Teachers will still report for their first day on Monday, August 17th. However, the typical three days of professional learning will be extended to three weeks -- providing them the time they need to prepare for all that is to come.
As I mentioned in Wednesday’s update, our leadership team has been carefully reading the feedback provided through the “Open with Care” staff and family surveys. We have been deeply engaged in gathering your responses into common themes, assigning tasks to workgroups, and dedicating much thought and discussion to how we can best support our students, staff and families, all while following the guidelines of the CDC, ODH, ODE and LCPH as the start of school nears.
I want to give a special shoutout to Mercy Hospital for their endless support from the very beginning. They have ensured we had at our table the phenomenal Katie Malear, CNP, who leads our Mercy School-Based Health Clinics. She has been instrumental in helping us to process the safest way to return to school.
In addition to our new start date, we know that we will NOT be returning to school in the fall as we have in the past — in which 100% of our staff and students report in-person to our buildings each day. As we experienced this spring, circumstances may quickly dictate that we end up fully remote, either based on the Governor’s orders, or if, as the result of our process, we determine that approach to be in the best interest of our staff and students.
Therefore, we want to share the following information, which has been created in response to the overwhelming feedback from our families and staff, who indicated their needs, concerns and personal challenges through our surveying process.
REMOTE LEARNING
- Remote learning will be part of our plan.
- We know what it will take to provide a quality remote learning experience, where we are in regards to our level of expertise, and what it will take to get from where we are to where we need to be.
- We have many staff members who are experts in this form of delivery, and they are eager to lead and support their peers along the way just as we have many staff who are eager to learn.
- As mentioned above, it will take approximately three weeks to arm our staff with the skills needed to provide a quality education remotely.
BLENDED LEARNING
- At the same time, our families were clear that caregivers of younger students shouldn't be forced to choose between working and parenting — this dynamic creates many challenges for the families we serve and we cannot ignore the impact that a lack of income has on our children because they become more vulnerable to hunger and homelessness.
- Students have varying needs that are often difficult to meet remotely. Therefore, we are investigating our capacity to offer a blended model — one which includes some form of in-person learning — all while defining exactly what that would look like in the Lorain City Schools.
- That being said, we cannot ignore that half our staff meet the CDC criteria for being at increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness, which greatly limits our options for in-school learning.
LEARNING TECHNOLOGY
- In order to participate in any kind of remote instruction, our students will need technology and internet connectivity at home.
- Lorain City Schools will be providing a device to any student who needs one.
- We will also provide internet access to any family in need who has a child attending the Lorain City Schools.
I understand that what I’ve just shared will raise many, many questions — please know we will have more information for you soon. Specifically, a draft version detailing the specifics of our plan — including all that we have learned since the last Board meeting, what a blended learning model might look like, and how we will adjust to changing guidelines from the Health Department — will be shared at a joint Board of Education / Academic Distress Commission meeting on Thursday, July 30th at 5:00PM.
We invite you to view and share your questions and comments with us during the meeting through livestream on the Lorain City Schools TV20 YouTube page. This will be just one method of soliciting your questions, thoughts and feedback moving forward.
It is less than ideal to share critical information in pieces as opposed to sharing the entire plan all at once. And I know that anxieties become heightened as neighboring districts announce their plans. However, as promised, we will take our time to listen, learn and understand the needs of those we serve before launching a plan which affects thousands of children and adults.
We will continue to share updates as they become finalized.
Thanks,
Jeff