Everyone I’ve seen and talked to this summer has asked me the same question: What's going to happen with school this fall? Until last Thursday, I could only shrug my shoulders and speculate. At last, Governor Walz, along with the Department of Education and the Department of Health, released their Safe Learning Plan for the 2020-2021 school year.
What a relief. Wait, now what?
Luckily, NRHEG, like all schools in the state, has been working on a plan around the three scenarios possible: everyone in school, distance learning, or a hybrid of both. I’ve been fortunate to be part of the committee working on these plans, and we’re not done yet!
First of all, anyone who has talked to me knows that I have been in favor of opening our schools in a safe fashion, based on the current data and what’s happening in our area. The fact that, as of the Governor’s announcement, the county strongest hit by COVID is Pipestone County tells you that it’s important not to lump all our schools under one umbrella again. That was done in the spring out of necessity, since we had very little time to plan.
But I’ve thought it is important to get the kids back in the classroom all along. Everyone knows that learning is improved for most kids when they are in person, especially our younger children. Social skills and mental health improve by being in school. (Too) Many kids have home lives that leave them looking for safety or food or other basic necessities that schools can provide.
I respect the virus. I know it’s not a joke or a conspiracy or any of that. However, as the research has grown, it seems like most of us don’t need to live in fear. There are many people who have some health concerns which could lead to precarious conditions if they caught COVID, and just like anybody at any time like that, those people should take extra precautions.
I love the idea that schools must offer a distance learning option. To me, there are two groups of people who should take advantage of that: those with health concerns in their home and those who found that distance learning actually worked much better for them. Let’s keep the most vulnerable safe and also recognize that some kids had success last spring. For all the ranting about how ineffective distance learning was, we saw some kids blossom in that setting.
Know this: whether we are distance learning or in a hybrid, not much of it will resemble what happened in the spring. That was just like changing the tire on your car while it’s moving. So even if kids had success at distance learning in April and May, they should also expect some big changes in how that looks in September.
I know plenty of people who don’t especially like our governor. However, you at least have to give him this: For the most part, he continues to lean on experts in different areas to make decisions. He continually refers to the science and doesn’t just sit in his office trying to figure things out on his own. I haven’t always agreed with all his decisions, but his consistency is admirable.
One thing I thought was that he waited too long for the mask mandate. Again, I know plenty of you who hate this, but I look at it in a different way. Think of this as a grand science project, much like some of us did as kids. If the experts say wearing a mask for the next month would reduce the transmission of the virus exponentially, why not try it? If those folks are correct, we can resume some more normalcy in our lives. If not, you can refocus your vitriol on the governor once again. Are you afraid they might be right?
For the good of our kids, I plead with you just to wear your mask. As of the governor’s announcement, if we were to start school right now, we could have all our elementary students in school every day and the secondary kids would be on a hybrid. That’s a fine way to start the year, but imagine if we could get the numbers down enough to have everyone K-12 in school every day. That’s the dream! Please don’t make choices that push it more toward distance learning. Show your generosity and sacrifice by donning a mask. Heck, if I can make it through umpiring baseball games in the heat with a mask on, you can do it when you’re indoors.
I know everyone is eager to know all the ins and outs of the plans we will have at NRHEG. There are a lot of moving parts, and our committee continues to work on ironing out all the details. Families will receive information as we can provide it. By the time you read this, you should have gotten an email survey about your intentions for your children this fall regarding attendance and bus use. Please take care of that right away! It will help us get to some finalizations that much quicker.
Rest assured, we will work to make school a safe place to be, but we need everyone’s help in controlling the transmission of the virus for this to work. I can’t wait for September 8!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is disquisition, which means a formal discussion on a subject, as in, “The disquisition among the committee about hybrid learning led to a plan to help all learners.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!