“Everyone wants their kids to be safe, but people feel like this isn’t working so well, and they feel like school will work better if kids are in classrooms.”
— Kirsi Allison-Ampe
School Committee members discussed what school could look like for Arlington Public School students when the new year begins this fall, at a meeting via Zoom on Thursday, June 11.
Uncertainty remains about what shape school will take for students and teachers in the fall. The district has established working committees to address such areas as curriculum, safety, transportation and food service, Superintendent Kathleen Bodie said.
“There have been some hints in the Department of Education that they are leaning toward a hybrid model, in which some students are in school one day or one week and then the other group of the students come the alternate day or week,” Bodie said. “We do know that when next year comes, we are not going to have the same kind of asynchronous learning experiences we have right now.”
Asynchronous learning refers to students learning the same material at different times of the day, through readings, assignments and prerecorded videos. Synchronous learning is when all the students are gathered together to learn the material at the same time, with live instruction via video call with the teacher. The Arlington School District has mainly been following guidelines from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which recommend asynchronous learning, because not all students have flexible home lives to be able to log on at a specific time of day.
There may be some parents who will feel unsafe sending their children to school at all, so there must remain flexible remote options for those students, Bodie said.
Urge to reopen
Committee member Kirsi Allison-Ampe asked why school administrators were emphasizing a hybrid model, rather than an in-person model. “A lot of parents feel they really would like their kids to go back,” she said. “Everyone wants their kids to be safe, but people feel like this isn’t working so well, and they feel like school will work better if kids are in classrooms.”
Committee member Jeff Thielman agreed that schools should be reopened, and that parents should have the choice to either send their children to school, or keep them at home.
“I think the best thing for students is to go back to school. I think it’s the best thing for families in terms of routine, and it’s not going to be perfect. It’s impossible to keep kids away from each other all day long,” he said.
Bodie responded that guidance about a possible hybrid model for next year is coming from the state Department Education. One memo recommended that students sit in desks spaced six feet apart.
“If that is a safety requirement, there’s no way you have all of these students at the same time,” Bodie said.
It is also important to keep in mind the health and safety of teachers, she said.
Bodie said the district has already ordered all the technology that will be needed for the fall, including giving teachers a MacBook Air for the next school year.
“The teachers that we’ve had have had a lot of limitations in terms of what teachers need to do,” Bodie said.
Remote learning
Bodie provided a summary of responses to a survey on remote learning that had been sent out to seventh through 12th graders. It was supposed to be sent out to sixth-grade students, too, and Bodie said those students could expect to receive the survey in the coming days.
Of the 609 respondents to the survey, which was not yet closed, 27 percent said they preferred to attend a live Google Meet class, while 36 percent preferred to watch a video when it was convenient to them. Sixty percent students reported that they spend about 3.5 hours each day completing school assignments.
Of the students who said they are not participating in any online learning, 45 percent said the fact that there are no grades this final semester is the reason they are not participating. Student participation in lessons is higher at the elementary level, and lower at the secondary level, said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Roderick MacNeal Jr.
Bodie announced that elementary students’ end-of-year reports will be more like narrative letters to parents, instead of progress reports. The letters will contain information about the student’s overall progress throughout the last year, reflections on how the students did during remote learning and ideas for what students can do over the summer to prepare for next school year.
Summer programming plan, extended school year
MacNeal said that summer school will be held online. Reading specialists, math interventionists and classroom teachers worked together to identify the students who need the most support to participate in summer programming.
“I can’t say, based upon capacity, that we’re able to provide support to all students who may need it, so I will acknowledge that,” MacNeal said. “We are trying to include as many students as possible.”
Capacity is limited by the number of teachers who signed up to teach summer programming, he said.
Director of Special Education Alison Elmer said the extended school year, which is provided to students who have it in their Individualized Education Program, will start remotely. Some students will be able to receive in-person services, such as occupational therapy and physical therapy.
Detention data
MacNeal said he would provide a report on detentions after a former data specialist for Arlington Public Schools recently raised concerns dating to 2017 that Bodie asked him not look too deeply into discipline data. Bodie has denied the claim, YourArlington hjas reported. He said that while only 13 percent of Arlington students are black, Hispanic or special-education students, they reflected 80 percent of the suspensions and expulsions.
“We want to make sure we are working toward providing a very comprehensive report as it relates to the detentions,” MacNeal said. “We know that we have a disproportionate number who are of the African American and other subgroups who receive discipline.”
MacNeal asked committee members to submit specific questions about detentions so he and his team could include those inquiries in the report, which will be presented at a later meeting.
Revised town appropriation
The committee voted unanimously to accept the revised town appropriation in the amount of $75,570,531, which included a 10-percent reduction of the department’s budget increase.
“We aren’t having to lay off teachers or any staff as it now stands,” said committee member Len Kardon. “We are actually able to hire a few new positions where they are sorely needed due to enrollment increase.”
Committee members voted unanimously to accept the school calendar for 2020-21.
“It feels a little silly to be approving this calendar, but it’s something we need to do,” Morgan said.
A time-honored tradition for Arlington’s fifth graders has been canceled for the fall. Typically, students partake in science camp, where they spend three nights at the University of Rhode Island W. Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich. The camp announced that it would close due to budgetary concerns resulting from the pandemic.
School Committee members expressed their disappointment the camp’s decision and voted unanimously to have Chair Jane Morgan draft a letter to the camp expressing that disappointment.
New officers elected
In an annual election at 6:15 meeting before the main session, Morgan was elected as chair of the committee, Bill Hayner was elected as vice chair and Paul Schlichtman was elected as secretary. All three votes were unanimous.
The committee voted unanimously on these agenda items:
- Write a letter of disappointment to URI about science camp being canceled;
- Accept the 2020-21 school year;
- Accept a reduction in the school department’s planned budget increase for next fiscal year; and
- The election of the chair, vice chair, and secretary.
Arlington Public Schools’ Covid-19 FAQ
May 31, 2020: Participation in online education varies by grade, Bodie says
May 17, 2020: Committee votes to urge increase in live video teaching; Gibbs candidates interviewed
May 3, 2020: Students average about half of recommended time on remote learning, survey says
April 11, 2020: April school break canceled; online classes continue
March 25, 2020: Remote learning during shutdown discussed; geothermal wells scrapped
This news summary by YourArlington freelancer Julia Preszler was published Wednesday, June 17, 2020.
