77% want in-person
Murphy – Although Gov. Roy Cooper needed to wait until this week to make a decision on how children were going to return to school, Cherokee County families are excited to start the school year in person.
According to a survey performed by Cherokee County Schools, 60 percent of parents responded they were either “very excited” or “excited” to start the school year. About 23 percent didn’t prefer a return to in-person learning or preferred remote learning.
Leslie Ledford, the district’s director of testing and accountability as well as director of digital teaching and learning, said she thought the number of those not comfortable with in-person learning was manageable for the district to reach through virtual learning, if schools return with in-person learning. The district saw a similar response from teachers and will work with them.
“We’re absolutely going to do everything we can do to work with teachers as well as families,” Ledford said.
For students who choose remote or virtual learning if schools have in-person learning, there will be guidelines, attendance requirements and a semester commitment. The commitment allows for consistency in the lessons as well as employment stability of teachers leading the virtual lessons.
The state has informed districts of three possible reopening plans the school year – minimal social distancing in schools, moderate social distancing in schools or remote learning only. Cooper was expected to decide by July 1, but held off on that decision when he extended the Phase 2 reopening of the state.
‘Words of warning’
One local parent, David Badger, also happens to be director of the Cherokee County Health Department. If it came down to him making the decision on how schools reopen, he said it would depend on the situation at the moment.
However, Badger said if he had to make the decision with the knowledge he has today, he would have “strong words of warning,” and would work collectively with the school district on a safety plan. The most important thing he would recommend is trying to limit students’ movements as much as possible.
He does think it’s possible for students to safely return to school. At this point, Badger and his wife would probably send their 7-year-old back to the classroom.
State Rep. Kevin Corbin (R-Franklin) informally asked on social media for input on reopening schools. He reported that 86 percent of the 800 commenters wanted schools to reopen in person.
Cherokee County Schools surveyed parents, teachers, students and community members to get feedback on the district’s remote learning program which ended the 2019-20 school year. The district received 501 responses, with 78 percent of the responses from parents. The main goal of the survey was to learn where the district could improve when they must use remote learning again.
“It was very informative to me,” Ledford said. “It’s going to help me put together a plan that makes sense.”
Big takeaways were that parents felt confident they knew what was going on, teachers were communicating very well with families and the biggest need was internet access.
About 75 percent replied they had access, although there were some areas – like Hiwassee Dam – which only had about half replying they had access. Ledford said the district is still working with local partners to get more internet access to students.
New system on the way
The district has plans to implement a new management platform, which works with the Google applications families have become familiar with and will give families a better offline experience.
“We are trying to bridge that gap with a learning management system that works offline,” Ledford said.
While schools across the country were facing challenges with remote learning, she wants to make sure local students are not father behind than other students across the country because of infrastructure issues.
“We can’t let those kids not have the same resources as others,” she said.
With any new learning tools, the district will have “zero days” to help parents and students become accustomed with those tools.
The management system will also help teachers communicate with parents in the way they responded they prefer – written means (text messages and emails, for example) accessible on mobile devices.
Overall, Ledford said it looked like district was successful with remote learning. She thinks they “rocked it” because the district was already one-to-one with devices for most students, already had received a few years of training on blended learning. That could build upon its virtual learning program in which students take classes not offered at their school.
In addition, most middle and high school teachers were comfortable with digital learning. The program used for remote learning was one ready to go in case it was needed for inclement weather.
“We really have created a very fertile ground to make it work,” Ledford said. “As bad of a situation it was, it could have been much worse.”