Reporters spread out across the lobby of the Moorhead Area Public Schools Operations Center Tuesday, when Superintendent Brandon Lunak and staff presented details on the system’s hybrid learning plan. All students will begin the school year Sept. 8 under the COVID-preventive plan. (Photo/Nancy Hanson)
Nancy Edmonds Hanson
When young Spuds go back to school Sept. 8, they’ll step into a world different from what they remember.
In ways large and small, Moorhead schools are dealing with the impact of the novel coronavirus while maintaining the same quality of education that could be taken for granted in pre-COVID-19 days. Superintendent Brandon Lunak shared the district’s marching orders with Moorhead and Fargo media Tuesday, laying out a plan that incorporates health measures recommended by the state Departments of Health and Education, while attempting to preserve as much face-to-face interaction as possible.
Administrators and teachers have spent the summer working on the “Return to Learn Plan,” with three alternatives for educating Moorhead’s 6,500-plus students from kindergarten through senior high. They have laid out three learning models with varying degrees of contact – fully in-person, hybrid and distance learning – that Lunak said can “fluidly respond to our communities’ needs.”
Moorhead schools will open on the middle path, the hybrid alternative. Its goal: to reduce the number of students moving through the building and to accommodate bus transportation, with buses operating at 50% of their capacity. Half of students at each level will be in their classrooms on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday one week, then Monday and Tuesday the next. The rest of the class will come to school on Thursday and Friday the first week, then Wednesday through Friday the second. They will be involved in distance learning on the other days, similar to the methods they used during the final months of the last school year.
The determining factor they’ll be looking at is Clay County’s COVID case rate, determined by the state Department of Health. It’s based on the total number of cases in the county for the previous 14 days divided by 10,000 residents – currently 9.87. The determining factor they’ll be looking at is Clay County’s COVID case rate, determined by the state Department of Health. It’s based on the total number of cases in the county for the previous 14 days divided by 10,000 residents – currently 9.43. The health department recommends adjustment of learning methods as that number changes. When the case rate is between 0 and 9, in-person learning is available for students of all ages. A rate of 10-19 mandates hybrid learning for secondary students but the in-person model for elementary (including children in kindergarten and grades one through six). Higher case rates mandates increasingly restrictive modes.
According to that standard, the county’s present COVID case rate is a hair’s breadth below the level at which the hybrid model would be mandated for secondary students, with elementary children still in the classroom. Administrators have chosen to start the year at the hybrid level across the board, however, to get all students accustomed to the alternating weekly schedules and the combination of classroom and at-home schoolwork.
After the first several weeks of instruction, Lunak said, the district’s Incident Response Team – consisting of himself, representatives of the school board and teachers union, and director of community engagement and public relations Brenda Richman – will reassess the situation and, if warranted, move between models. The task force will meet Thursdays throughout the year.
Assistant superintendent Jeremy Larson pointed out that the staggered recommendations recognize the greater importance of more personal contact between students and teachers for younger ages – whether in the classroom full-time or on alternating schedules. The on-site school day has been shortened by one hour in all schools to allow teachers more prep time for accommodating dual methods of class delivery.
Health measures will make even full-time attendance rather unfamiliar to those returning to school. Students will spend most of their days in “cohort groups” instead of mingling freely with the whole student body. Teachers will rotate between classes – moving between classrooms – rather than youngsters traveling outside of their assigned classrooms.
Desks and other classroom furniture will be farther apart, and there will be less use of shared materials. Art and music rooms have been repurposed as classroom space; those teachers will move between rooms with their gear on carts. Meals may be brought to the classroom, or lunch times may be staggered to provide as much distance as possible. And faculty, staff and all students over the age of 5 will be required to wear face coverings – masks – throughout the day.
The district is providing Chromebooks for students in grades 7 through 12 to use in both the hybrid and distance models. Equipment has been ordered for younger grades and is expected to be available by mid-October.
For about 1,000 students, however, the outlook is entirely different. The district has created a new all-online Spud Academy for K-12 students whose parents prefer the option of continuing with fully distance learning, as was offered during the final months of the 2020-21 year. The option of enrolling in the academy was introduced to parents during the first two weeks of August and requires each Spud Academy enrollee to remain in the program for the entire fall semester.
The original deadline for enrollment was set at Aug. 14, Lunak said, to give the schools an idea of how many students will be returning to regular instruction so that spaces could be allocated. “We’re flexible. Families can still choose to enroll,” he stressed. “But if you’re still on the fence, please ask questions now and make up your mind as soon as possible.”
Lunak said that teachers will be receiving instruction in using hybrid and distance-learning models. The learning and accountability department is currently offering extra training sessions on how to work with students who are home during their hybrid days outside the classroom. Back-to-school workshops, too, will offer ideas on what to expect and how best to handle the challenges beyond the classroom.
Lunak declined to answer a question about how many teachers have inquired about early retirement, leaves of absence or other accommodations due to concern about the unique risks the faculty faces this fall, as well as ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) issues. He said the human resources department is “looking at all the options to try to accommodate our staff wherever we can.”
A reporter asked the superintendent whether, despite all the planning that has been done, uncertainty still remains. “Nothing surprises me anymore,” he said. “I’m always asking, ‘What if ….’ I believe the procedures we’ve put in place are sound. We’re doing everything we can to keep our students and staff as safe as humanly possible.”
He added, “Overwhelmingly, the majority of our staff is excited to finally get back to doing what they know best – educating our kids.”
Full information on Moorhead’s “Return to Learn” plan is available online at www.moorheadschools.org/returntolearn