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Date: 10/23/2020
WEST SPRINGFIELD – On Oct. 13, the West Springfield School Committee was informed of the progress in preparing schools for a hybrid-learning model.
The district practiced synchronous learning in a dry-run with administrators standing in for in-classroom students. Assistant Superintendent Vito Perrone described it as “less than ideal.”
He said, “It’s very challenging for teachers to deliver effective instruction to either cohort,” remote or in person. To work out the issues, Perrone said that a small group of parents at the high school and middle school level had been asked to allow their students to attend class in-school as a pilot of the hybrid learning model. The middle school students will be engaging in this test during the last week of October, while the high schoolers would be participating in the first week of November.
Connor reported that the high school English learner students and transition students attended classes in person for the first time on Oct. 13 as part of a move to bring high-needs students back to school in-person. More high-needs students will return on Oct. 19, ahead of the phased-in pivot to hybrid learning that begins on Oct. 26.
Currently, the 17 English learner students are in a socially-distanced layout in the library of West Springfield High School. The students are following their individual class schedules. Teachers are working in the building, while others are teaching remotely. Connor said that the district was identifying opportunities to provide teachers with help.
Other challenges that the district is tackling include transportation for cohorts A and B, who will attend school in person on Monday and Tuesday, and Thursday and Friday, respectively. Wednesdays will be remote for all students, with “project-based learning” in the afternoons to allow teachers to have collaboration time.
The logistics of teaching the fully-remote students in cohort C is also a major focus for administrators. The district has issued a stipend to teachers to offset the planning time they must engage in outside of school hours. Meanwhile, teacher and staff requests are still coming in for personal leave, as well as, time off through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and for childcare, Connor said.
School Committee Member Pat Garbacik asked how many students in early childhood to grade two (EC-2) would be returning to schools in the hybrid model versus remaining remote. While that information is still coming in, Connor said, 98 students at Coburn School spanning from kindergarten to grade five had chosen to remain remote. “It goes down from there. Percentage-wise, somewhere from 9 to 11 percent upwards to 17 percent in some schools and grade levels.”
Mayor Will Reichelt told Connor that he had received questions about why grades six to 12 were returning all at once on Nov. 19. Connor explained that Nov. 19 was an opportune date because it was the closing of one marking period and the beginning of another. While the district had considered bringing seniors back on a separate date, he said, it would have been difficult since the students are enrolled in mixed-grade classes.
Connor reported that athletics are “in full swing” and that 270 student athletes were participating. He noted that some games have had to be postponed due to increases in coronavirus cases in surrounding towns. When asked by School Committee Member Nancy Farrell if the sports remote viewing program was successful, Connor said that people had been purchasing access passes to watch games at home via cameras that have been set up at Clark Field.
The full committee passed a face-covering policy for the district, in which early childhood students are “strongly encouraged” to wear a face covering, however, they are mandatory for all other grades.