|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are
solely
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
 |
DA District Administration
How will schools reopen safely in fall 2020?
Districts might have to hire more teachers to avoid reducing instruction time in the fall
By: Matt Zalaznick
April 22, 2020
While many officials expect public schools to reopen in the fall, K-12 education even then may not return to “normal.”
Schools in Denmark, which last week became the first system in Europe
to reopen, may provide a glimpse at what U.S. classrooms might look
like when students return.
At one school, students sat at desks placed six feet apart, washed
their hands once an hour and could only play in small groups during
recess, The New York Times reported.
Teachers were not allowed to gather in staff rooms and parents had to stay outside, according to The New York Times.
“It is a new world,” Tanja Linnet, a head teacher, told The New York
Times. “We used to make plans for if there was a terrorist attack
here—but never this kind of attack.”
While opening schools should help economies because parents can return
their focus to work, world health officials are still cautioning
countries from trying to reopen before the coronavirus is under
control, according to The New York Times.
Fall 2020: Staggered classes, longer days
With most districts having shifted to online learning, superintendents and their teams are planning the 2020-21 school year.
In California, education officials are considering “reconfigured
classrooms,” staggered class schedules and a continuation of online
learning to permit social distancing, The Mercury News reported.
Palo Alto USD Superintendent Don Austin told the Mercury News that he
hopes the coronavirus experience will increase community support for
year-round schools, morning and afternoon school shifts, and a
combination of online and in-person instruction.
“I think the problem-solving, the brainstorming around summer, fall and
beyond has not been radical enough and I think that people are still
trying to make things fit the paradigm they’re used to,” Austin told
The Mercury News.
Eric Gordon, chief executive officer of the Cleveland Metropolitan
Schools District, thinks school can reopen in the fall, he told
Cleveland.com.
Districts could stagger school days or extend hours to reduce class
sizes to keep students and teachers six feet apart, Gordon told
Cleveland.com.
But districts would have to hire more teachers to avoid reducing
instruction time. “We couldn’t suddenly triple the size of the
workforce, and even if we did we did couldn’t triple the size of the
building,” Gordon told Cleveland.com.
Planning for disruptions after schools reopen
In Arizona’s Vail School District, leaders looking toward fall 2020
also say social distancing could be maintained by staggering schedules
and combining in-person instruction and livestreaming classes to
students at home, according to the This is Tuscon/Arizona Daily Star.
Staggering schedules, however, would require state lawmakers to change
a law that bases school funding on in-person enrollment during the
first 100 days of the school year, according to This is Tuscon/Arizona
Daily Star.
In Nebraska, Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt has assembled a team
of 24 superintendents to begin developing a “safety net” for the fall,
the Lincoln-Journal Star reported.
The team is planning for normal instruction, continued online learning
and all possibilities in between, including further disruptions after
students return to school if their are coronavirus outbreaks in
individual communities, according to the Lincoln-Journal Star.
“I hope we don’t have a lot of disruptions, but signs are that it’s a possibility,” Blomstedt told the Lincoln-Journal Star.
|
|
|
|
