Parents eagerly awaiting news on what the spring semester of the 2020-2021 school year will look like can expect to learn St. Vrain Valley School District’s plan on Friday — three days earlier than previously announced.
A final decision will be made this evening, after school board members share their thoughts or modifications to the plan with Superintendent Don Haddad. A letter will be sent Friday to parents detailing what the spring semester will look like for their students.
During Wednesday’s school board meeting, Haddad laid out the plan he hopes to implement when students return to school in January. The plan would allow elementary school students to return to in-person learning four days a week, with Fridays remaining asynchronous learning days. Middle and high school students would begin the semester online with a staggered return to the hybrid model that would have them attend in-person classes two days a week and learn remotely another two.
Under the plan, middle school students will return to hybrid learning on Jan. 11, while high school students will begin on Jan. 19. That timeline was suggested by Boulder County Public Health to allow district and health officials to watch for a rise in COVID cases after the holidays, Haddad said. He also said the data he has received indicates that middle and high school students are at a higher risk of getting and spreading COVID-19, which makes the wait important.
Should the plan be adopted, parents will be given several options for the spring semester. They can choose to send their children back for in-person learning, choose fully remote learning, enroll in the online LaunchEd program or explore homeschool or other options.
If parents choose to have their students attend fully remote, Haddad asked that they commit to it so schools and teachers know how to track students’ attendance.
If some students choose to attend fully remote, it would open up spots in the middle and high school levels for other students to attend more often than their two days assigned in the hybrid model, Haddad said. More information is expected to be known after the first week students return to in-person learning.
Special education students will be able to attend classes four days a week.
Additionally, the district is providing academic and counseling support to students in grades K-12. Students can get in-person help from a teacher in the subject matter after school and soon on Saturdays, Haddad told the school board. The district also will host its summer extension program through June for students who need extra support, he said.
SVVSD will be able to use a more strategic approach to quarantining, as was seen when students returned for hybrid learning in October. In support of this, seating charts throughout schools, including cafeterias and libraries, are being designed to better track exposure, Deputy Superintendent Jackie Kapushion said.
The district also is offering free COVID testing to students and staff at the Innovation Center. Haddad said.
Joie Siegrist, school board president, recognized that no plan would gain 100% support, but said she felt the options provided by SVVSD will allow families to choose what best fits their needs.
School board member Paula Peairs said she expects the plan to be modified throughout the experience, but is confident that it is a “highly vetted plan … driven by science.”
