About 125 people lined the streets outside the MCCSC buildings asking to push back the start date for schools due to the pandemic. (Seth Tackett, WFIU/WTIU News)
The start date for all Monroe County Community Schools is now August 12 instead of August 5.
The board voted Tuesday night to delay the first day of school for a week because of the increasing number of coronavirus infections.
When school starts, all teaching will be done online to help keep students safe.
Superintendent Judy DeMuth said a special committee will be formed to evaluate the COVID-19 impact on the community.
“They could help us over at Indiana University with their scientists. We have wonderful local health professionals. We’ve got the Monroe County Health Department," DeMuth said. "I asked them to join hands with us to try to come up with some metrics that we could use as a community to help us make that decision.”
The complete list of the district’s new re-entry plan has seven added guidelines:
- Both teachers and staff will begin later. Teachers will begin on August 5. Students will begin on August 12. Students and staff will end the school year May 28 before Memorial Day.
- Teachers will continue preparation for online instruction beginning August 5. Students will begin online instruction on August 12.
- All students will begin with a classroom teacher as if “in-person” school was beginning. Students will be paired with their teacher to ensure a connection is made. All students will be online.
- Teachers will teach from a location that best meets their needs. Classrooms will be open for their use.
- The COVID-19 impact on the community will be reevaluated prior to September 11. A change to how instruction will be delivered may be made as a result of this evaluation. Families will be notified one week prior to a change from online. Further details will be forthcoming on how students will return in-person.
- A committee of the Monroe County Health Department along with Health and Science professionals, and educators will assist in providing a community metric that will determine when students may return to in-person instruction.
- A team of curriculum experts, principals, parents and teachers will determine the structure for online instruction. They will also determine a plan for when in-person instruction begins.
DeMuth said the special committee will make its decision on whether to institute in-person classes prior to September 11. At that time the district might decide to change the way instruction is being delivered.
When asked if the district’s online academy will be an option for students who don’t want to go back to in-person learning, DeMuth said that it’s likely.
“It is yet to be determined, but I’m going to say we have to have that type of option because we do have families that have said they’re not sending their child back,” DeMuth said. “We’re going to service those children.”
Dozens of teachers, parents and community members protested outside the MCCSC co-lab building prior to the school board meeting. Many held signs asking the board to delay the start of the school year.
“I think they really need to figure out how they’re going to do contact tracing,” former MCCSC teacher and protest organizer April Hennessey said. “So, if a student is found to be COVID positive in a classroom, how do we then communicate that to the broader community? We don’t have a good plan yet.”
The Monroe County Education Association (MCEA) presented some data to the school board on how teachers feel about returning to the classroom.
“Two-thirds of all the teachers say we should be starting virtually,” MCEA president Paul Farmer said. “That doesn’t mean we want to stay that way all year round. It means they want to start virtually now until we know that it’s safe to return.”
Farmer said the MCEA surveyed 477 of its 546 members to come up with that figure.
“The original plan was a good plan,” Farmer said. “It’s just not appropriate now.”
Several parents attended the protest and chose to speak out against opening schools with in-person learning.
“If one kid dies this year, it could’ve been prevented,” MCCSC parent Kyle Sheppard said. “Why should we rush to try and get this back so quickly? Maybe it takes just another week or two to understand what’s happening better and to evaluate what other school systems are doing.”
DeMuth said her number one priority between now and the start of school is to make sure students are comfortable with their online interaction with teachers.
She said the next few weeks will determine if in-person learning is a possibility amid the pandemic.
“Our families have such different needs,” DeMuth said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to try to help them.”
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