West Virginia schools Superintendent Clayton Burch says a delayed start for students means more time to figure out the details of safe learning environments during the coronavirus pandemic.
“This decision was not made lightly,” Burch said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
“Selecting a date to buy us a little bit of time to prepare, to check, to double check that things are safe, that we could track the numbers, make sure our schools were ready, it was the best course of action. It does put students back in school, which is what we all want, but it does allow the 55 counties to all be on the same page and make sure they’re all ready for that start.”
State School Superintendent Clayton Burch speaks with @HoppyKercheval about the decision to delay the start of the school year and further details revolving around it. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/Y2sYteLDnH
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) July 9, 2020
Gov. Jim Justice announced on Wednesday that the new target date for starting school will be Sept. 8.
Many counties had been scheduled to start in just a few weeks, in August.
But Justice said West Virginia needs to buy some time as some of its coronavirus numbers have gone up alarmingly.
“I can assure you that I am not going to move until I am absolutely as sure as I can possibly be that our kids are going to be safe,” Justice said.
The announcement came as West Virginia’s numbers for positives compared to overall testing, reproductive rate and hospitalizations surged alarmingly.
“Do you really think we can be back in school in two or three weeks? Do you really think that would be the smart money? It’s not,” Justice said.
“We need to buy ourselves some time.”
Superintendents from all 55 counties were part of a discussion today on reopening, and the state Department of Education issued further guidance about how the school day might work once it gets started.
To view re-entry information, visit wvde.us/reentry.
Burch expanded on several aspects of what is envisioned during his appearance on “Talkline.”
The superintendent said there will be two overriding themes, right from the start.
“Our teachers have to be prepared that the students haven’t had school for a while. There’s going to be a larger gap,” he said.
“Simultaneously, they’ll be working on the ‘what if’ plan,” he added. “If there is an uptick and my county or school closes down, am I now better prepared to go to virtual learning?”
Other details will also define the school year.
Days on site: Although preliminary guidance from a month ago leaned toward hybrid schedules of some days in school and some days learning from home, Burch said that seems less likely now.
“I believe the majority of our counties, if not all, will do everything in their power to go five days a week,” he said.
But if that’s not possible, students and teachers will adjust, said Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association.
Speaking on “Talkline,” Lee said teachers can emphasize what students really need to learn even if the in-school schedule is compressed.
“Our educators will get the students where they need to be.”
.@WVEADaleLee and @AlbertFralbert speak with @HoppyKercheval about the decision to delay the start of the school year. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/rsif4fQIUS
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) July 9, 2020
Virtual learning: Schools have been working to get better at this, but Burch acknowledged what so many West Virginians know — that access to broadband internet remains uneven.
“The problem becomes access,” he said.
Lunchtime: Cafeterias may be used, but a possibility would be gathering to eat at 50 percent capacity.
“Some may choose to eat in the classroom,” Burch said this week.
Transportation: “We’re a rural state. We have to transport our children,” Burch told state school board members. “We don’t have any other means for these children to get to school.”
But there will be precautions. For example, Burch said, siblings may be seated together on buses. Or children who gather at the same bus stop may be seated nearest each other.
Students are likely to ride buses two to a seat.
That caught state board member Dave Perry’s attention.
“Two to a seat?” Perry said. “We have buses — that will be a need for additional buses.”
Bus routes will probably have to be shuffled to make that work, Burch responded.
That number per seat is also down from the one per seat the school system originally thought it would need to accomplish.
“We got it down to two per seat. I think we can meet that need,” Burch said.
Like any of this, the transportation system might be reassessed.
“We will continue to monitor areas that have spikes to see if there has to be any additional requirements,” he said.
Masks: Burch said students might have to wear masks when they are in common areas, such as hallways.
“We will encourage the use of masks when they’re not with their core group.”
For teachers and other school personnel, there are talks about mask alternatives such as face shields or maintaining significant distance so students, particularly young ones, are able to see the teacher’s face.
Social distancing:
Schools are not built for social distancing, so there will have to be adjustments. Even those won’t be perfect, Burch acknowledged.
“Many of our older buildings will not have the room for desks to be completely six feet apart,” he said.
“We do have the ability to use face coverings when we need to. If we need to do flexible, creative scheduling to get those class sizes smaller, we have the ability.”
Screening: While presenting the current guidance to state school board members on Wednesday, Burch said students are unlikely to be screened for coronavirus by teachers.
“We’re going to count on our teachers. Our teachers know their students,” Burch said.
“If you’ve ever gone back to the start of any school year, guess what typically happens. I don’t know about you but I typically had a cold. I typically got the sniffles. And it will happen. We’re going to count on our teachers to work with the families. We’re going to monitor. But we’re not going to screen or do temperatures every day at this time.”
Illness: That’s a major remaining question.
What happens when a student or teacher is diagnosed with the coronavirus? Should all those who were in contact go into quarantine?
Of teachers who might get sick, Burch said, “Do we have a substitute to replace them? What does the leave look like?”
Lee said many questions remain.
“One of the biggest obstacles is the little things you don’t think of until they actually hit. What happens if a student gets sick? What happens if you can’t get ahold of the parent to come pick up that student?” Lee asked.