Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Managing Editor MT. PLEASANT – The Mt. Pleasant Community School Board voted Monday night to approve a revision to the return-to-learn plan that removes specific metrics for community spread from the instructional model plan. The new plan erases specific community spread guidelines and instead replaces them with more flexible language. The new language will allow the district to examine multiple factors before making a decision on moving to a different instructional model. “We just didn’t know what coming back to school was going to be like. Didn’t know what kind of movement the virus was going to have,” said John Henriksen, the district’s superintendent. Now, after four months of trial and error, the district has found that the metrics are outdated and rigid, keeping the district from being flexible and tackling specific situations. They have found that coronavirus doesn’t move rapidly amongst the student body, or transmit in large numbers at school; instead, they are having teacher shortages due to coronavirus infection or quarantine. “There is not a lot of movement or virus transmission in our student body, and more so it has affected us on the adult side of things,” said Henriksen. The district stated that when thinking about a switch in instructional models they want to take a more specific and targeted approach, most likely targeting individual buildings. The district used their recent move to a hybrid at the middle school as an example. Explaining that they would address the needs of each building based on the data. They will also be taking a more broad approach to data-driven decisions now. “The decision to implement a specific instructional model will be based on a number of factors, including but not limited to: county positivity rate, hospital resources, student attendance, and staff attendance,” as stated in the updated Return-to-Learn plan. Board Approves Online Learning Vendor For Second Semester At the Monday session, the board also approved software curriculum provider Edgenuity as their new remote learning vendor for the second semester, in a 4-2 motion Maher and Andrews being the dissenting votes.
The online program has partnered with the Mississippi Bend Education Association to provide instruction for the district’s remote learning program K-12. As approved, the program will provide a teacher and curriculum for the district’s remote learners next semester. This will be completely separate from the district and aims to relieve the stress and overworking of the district’s teachers. The district’s teaching staff has attempted to juggle their in-person classroom and their online classroom last semester, leaving many tired and overworked. This new program was adopted in an attempt to relieve some of that stress. Currently, the board is limiting the scope of the new program. They will only allow students that are already enrolled in the district’s remote learning program and have passed the first semester to sign up for remote learning in the second semester. They will also provide remote learning for the district’s fragile health students and families as required by state law. The program will cost the district about $170,000 in general fund expenses for the second semester with about 130 remote learning students in the district. The program runs around $1,500 per semester per K-5 student, and $1,200 for 6-12 students.
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November 2020
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