(1/2021) Our school board has some recent changes. Three new members were elected. David Bass, Sue Johnson, and Jason "Mr. J." Johnson were sworn in on Dec. 2. That same day, we conducted our board leadership elections. Jay Mason was nominated by former board president, Brad Young, and unanimously elected as president. I was elected vice president. Liz Barrett’s term continues until 2022 and rounds out our seven-member board. We are looking forward to learning more about one another, as well as the skill set that each brings to the position. I can say that all three new members are earnestly working to do the best for the students of FCPS.
As 2020 ends, on the top of anyone’s mind connected to the school system is when will we be able to begin hybrid instruction? Last fall, we received hundreds of emails from parents, many of whom wanted their students back in school for in-person instruction. Now, most of the emails are from parents and teachers cautioning us not to move too soon. We used to have metrics; now the state health department is seemingly indicating that there are other variables to take into account. There is research that seems to support schools not being super spreader locations. But there have been outbreaks at various FCPS schools with less than 10% of our students coming into the school buildings.
And for every study that shows schools to be relatively safe, there is conflicting data. The Biden administration has stated that there is a plan to get students back to school in the near future. All this as the vaccine begins its rollout and teachers in Maryland have been moved up on the priority list for receiving their vaccination. Additionally, FCPS will be implementing a dashboard on our website so that anyone may check on our metrics themselves. We hope it will show our stakeholders that we are trying to be transparent. This could all bode well for getting students back into our buildings.
In order to better understand the concurrent teaching model, where teachers are instructing students at home at the same time they have students in the classroom, I visited a middle school and an elementary school, where I saw two kindergarten and two 3rd grade classes. I found that these teachers did what all teachers do - put their own spin on it. The teachers I observed were already in their schools, working with small in-person groups. They volunteered to try out concurrent teaching to help FCPS come up with best practices for this new model. The feedback received from these teachers will be used during professional development training when teachers return to their buildings, tentatively, on January 13. It’s going to take some adapting – again – but I have every confidence in our teachers to make it work.
One concern was the students in the classrooms spending all their time on a device. This proved not to be true at all. When the teacher is instructing the students at home and in the classroom simultaneously, yes, they all tend to be on devices. But then the students at home go off to do independent work while the students with the teacher have direct instruction using manipulatives, paper, pencil, etc. The students in person with the teacher, which is predicted to be roughly a third of the total class, may have to be the small group since distancing requirements make it hard to imagine otherwise.
Throughout this health crisis, it has always seemed that we could eventually accommodate all of our students. Many want to re-enter their school building for hybrid instruction, while some will choose to remain virtual. In fact, we’ve heard from a number of families that during virtual instruction their child has blossomed. Some of the reasons have included not having to deal with bullying, lack of disruptions from other students, ability to self-pace, etc. Additionally, we’ve supported the option of voluntary involvement in extra-curricular activities for the social and emotional health of our students.
That leaves the health and well-being of our staff. Many emails have pointed to the relatively low occurrence of transmission from and to children. This is a good thing if it is indeed true, however, the majority of FCPS staff falls in an age group that is more susceptible, with a number having underlying health concerns or who live with someone that does. Our staff needs to trust that they will be called back into a safe environment where protocols are being followed. This will call for principals, as the leaders of their school, to be vigilant.
So, I’ll finish this column as I did the previous one. It remains to be seen if the community can contain the spread enough for us to feel safe bringing our staff and students back into the buildings for hybrid instruction. The target seems to move all the time and I know it keeps more than a few superintendents and school board members up at night. Once again, stay tuned. I should know more by next month’s column.
