As COVID-19 vaccines are beginning to be distributed throughout the country to health care workers and nursing home residents, Warren Township High School District 121 Superintendent John Ahlgrim is hopeful that students will soon be able to return to in-person classes.
“If (coronavirus case numbers) keep coming down, we’ll be getting to the point where we’ll be saying we do need to look at our hybrid plan, and start to bring students back in,” Ahlgrim said during Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. “I’m hopeful for a Jan. 19 hybrid model.”
The district is currently on a remote learning with small groups plan, under which 95% of the district’s students are learning remotely, while 5% attend in-person classes in small groups.
When the board does eventually move into a hybrid schedule, students will attend four classes a day as opposed to eight. Students would also attend shortened versions of their classes remotely in the morning, and go to in-person classes after a lunch break to attend longer versions, resulting in 75 minutes for each class per day.
“All eight periods in the day is probably too much for kids,” Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services Christopher Geocaris said. “If a kid gets sick, they’d have to be catching up on eight periods of work every day. We felt that was overwhelming.”
As the district prepares for the upcoming winter break, the Jan. 19 date would give school officials two weeks to determine if any students, faculty, staff or their family members are displaying any symptoms of COVID-19 after the break.
On a survey that was sent out by the district, parents of 709 students indicated that if the school district did move to a hybrid learning model their students would continue participating in classes remotely.
Board President Paul Schulz said he thinks that students are better off when they’re in school, and schools are a low-risk environment.
“We’ve got some great mitigating factors in to make our schools very safe, and I’m a big proponent of getting kids back into school,” he said. “[Parents] realize there’s a risk, but [students] are playing sports, they’re at the mall, they’re getting together outside of school anyways.”
While a number of board members spoke about their desire to see students reenter school buildings, board member Thomas Drake said he first wants to make sure it is safe.
“We’re still in a pandemic, and it’s arguably worse than it has ever been,” Drake said, adding that the virus spreads when people are together in buildings.
The board also heard from Warren Township High School student Joshua Hornstein about what he perceives are the failings of remote learning, and how it can be improved by placing an emphasis on participation throughout the curriculum during the second semester of the school year.
“Teachers are unfulfilled and students’ mental health is becoming worse and worse,” he said. “If we make participation part of the curriculum, it will reduce homework and improve class morale. The mental health of students and teachers will improve, and the overall quality of education in the classroom will improve.”
The district administration believes one of the first steps toward having a more engaging classroom is placing an emphasis on students having their computer cameras turned on during class. When the district does return to remote learning after winter break, it is going to move toward making that mandatory.
“A lot of our teachers reported that students are not turning their webcams on during class,” Geocaris said. “There’s a disengagement there. It’s hard for teachers to build a relationship. It’s hard to create that engaging classroom atmosphere.”
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Geocaris added that there will be a process in place for families who may not have their cameras on, whether because of internet issues or privacy concerns, and they’re looking to make it a requirement for all other students by Jan. 19.