Greeley-Evans School District 6 is still set to hold in-person classes. Here’s what it would take for that to change.
By Kelly Ragan
Greeley-Evans School District 6 remains committed – for now – to keeping its doors open and classrooms occupied.
Classes are set to begin Aug. 17, 18 and 19.
It would be easier, logistically, said Superintendent Deirdre Pilch at a school board meeting Monday, to move to remote learning – but there are serious implications that would come with that too.
About 67% of District 6 students qualify for free-and reduced-lunch, an indicator of poverty, Pilch said, and many parents work multiple jobs.
“Sometimes we forget what that level of poverty means when we are making these decisions,” Pilch said. “We have to be really mindful of what it means if we don’t provide in-person learning.”
In a survey sent out earlier in the summer, about 67% of the 4,000 parents surveyed said they wanted to return to in-person learning. Another 20% wanted hybrid learning options and 13% said they wanted to move to full-time remote learning.
Pilch said those numbers seem consistent with what parents chose for their kids for the upcoming school year.
About 1,370 elementary school students, 700 middle school students and 700 high school students will do remote learning during at least the first semester, Pilch said.
“That’s not too far off from what parents told us they wanted to do,” Pilch said.
Other districts, such as Thompson School District, Poudre School District, St. Vrain Valley School District, Denver Public Schools and Jeffco Public Schools, have opted to move to 100% remote learning, at least for the beginning of the year, according to reports by the Longmont Times Call and the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
What would it take for District 6 to change course?
It’s hard for anyone to make solid plans right now, especially as the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve and change. It’s possible District 6, and school districts across the country for that matter, will have to pivot this school year.
As it stands, this is what would have to happen for District 6 to move to 100% remote learning:
10% or greater positivity rate in Weld County (we were at about 6.2% as of Monday)
10% or greater COVID-19 related absence in multiple schools
10% or greater student or staff absence districtwide
Dramatically increasing hospitalization rates
Significant increase in rates of new cases per 100,000 people
New guidance from health officials and/or an executive order from Gov. Jared Polis
At the meeting, Pilch discussed points brought up by the Greeley Education Association, the district’s teacher’s union.
GEA expressed a desire for:
More of a hybrid model with middle school students
Smaller classes sizes
Improved air quality
Mask enforcement
Use of community sites
Extending school start dates
What GEA will get
Pilch said the district did clean and update air filters at the schools. The district also purchased air purifying machines and plan to prioritize classrooms without windows to open.
As for mask enforcement, Pilch said, she understands teachers don’t want to have to fight to make kids wear masks.
“This will be one of those things where teachers ask the child once and then we deal with it administratively,” Pilch said. “Children will not be able to be in school if they don’t wear a mask.”
That said, it seems the mask rule won’t apply when children are sitting at their desks in the classroom.
There will also be a small number of exemptions for those with medical conditions and some may have the chance to wear face shields instead, she said.
What GEA won’t get
For now, it seems a hybrid model for middle schoolers is out of the question, as the district worries about younger children staying at home alone all day.
There’s not much to do about class sizes either beyond the reduction that comes from parents opting for 100% remote learning. Many classrooms will still have more than 20 kids in them.
Using community sites, such as churches, to allow for more space between students is also a no-go. The district, Pilch said, won’t have enough control over the environment for disinfecting and regular old security measures.
Pilch said the district also won’t expand the start date more than it already has.
What’s the plan for substitute teachers?
At the meeting Monday, Annette Overton, assistant superintendent for human resources and strategic planning, spoke on the district’s plan for subs.
The district, she said, is in the process of training up a pool of subs for online learning.
“We have a total of 196 right now who have committed to teaching 2-3 days per week,” Overton said. “We’ll be asking if they would be willing to be full-time.”
Overton said she thinks the district is in better shape with substitutes than it has been in the past, even with the pandemic.
For now, they’re working to sort subs into cohorts, or “sub pods,” to keep the same group in the same schools to reduce exposure to the virus as much as possible.
Pilch said the district won’t be pulling teachers out of the classroom for professional development this year, like it does during normal years, in an effort to reduce the district’s need for subs.
The district is also working with staff in high risk categories, Pilch said.
So far, the district has received just under 100 requests for accommodations, Pilch said, which in the grand scheme of things, is “pretty insignificant.”
“I want to recognize that some of our staff are fearful,” Pilch said. “It’s not most of our staff, I don’t think, but we do have staff who are feeling anxious and fearful.”
In an interview with the NoCo Optimist, GEA President Andi Lee said uncertainty is top of mind for teachers.
Many teachers don’t feel like they have enough information because information changes so quickly, she said.
“But we have an incredible staff that is working very hard to do the very best for its students,” Lee said. “You have people who are working hard to give a good, solid public education with the resources we have.”