Parents Weigh In On GCSD ‘Return to Learn’ Proposal

Thu, 07/23/2020 - 5:42pm admin

A typical meeting of the Glenwood Board of Education might bring in a handful of spectators.

More than 30 parents and district stakeholders turned out for Glenwood’s regular monthly public meeting last Monday, July 13.

This is far from typical times.

The meeting came just days after the Glenwood Community School District publicly unveiled its “Return to Learn” plan for the fall in an email to parents on July 10. That email indicated the district’s plan is “tentative” for a return to school Aug. 20 and reminded parents the situation remains “fluid” as positive COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Iowa and nationally.

The plan, which was written with the assistance of Mills County Public Health according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, lays out health and safety protocols for the district’s buildings, how transportation and school lunches will be conducted and how confirmed cases will be handled. The plan also presents an alternative, online option for those students with medical or special needs.

While the GCSD intends to return to school full time with all students, the plan sent to parents said if the district is not able to return to buildings they will pivot to continuous required online learning. The district will not pursue a hybrid plan that would see students rotating between days in buildings and online learning at home to mitigate exposure.

The return to buildings plan does not require staff or students to wear masks and gives those students with a “bonified” health condition the option of online learning, provided they have a note from their doctor.

At the meeting, the board faced questions and comments that bounced from why masks aren’t being required to online learning details and what happens after positive cases are confirmed in buildings.

Of the seven members of the public to spend their allotted three minutes commenting to the board, five pressed them on opening up the online option to all students and families.

The board voted 4-1 to approve a modified version of the four-page plan. Board member Tim Becker was the lone dissenter.

The board elected to pull out the online option details to get more information on the possibility of opening it up to more families who don’t feel safe sending their children back to school buildings. The board asked Superintendent Devin Embray and his administration team to gauge that interest level and determine the financial threshold for just how many students that select that option the district can afford.

The district has contracted with Edmentum, one of a handful of “online academies" approved in the state, to handle its online learning. The cost for Glenwood for the 2020-21 academic year is $2,200 per student. In macro numbers, if half the district’s enrollment, roughly 1,000 students, were to choose the online option, the cost to the district would be $2.2 million.

Before voting, the board spent 90 minutes peppering Embray with questions of their own on the plan that was conceived by a committee of administrators, teachers and health professionals.

While Embray seemed open to the idea of opening up the online option to all students he cautioned “limiting (the option) to those with health concerns will keep it cost effective for the district.”

The district elected to contract with Edmentum instead of providing its own online learning program for health-risk students for the same reason they will not pursue a hybrid option, Embray said.

“We don’t have the staff or resources to dedicate, or develop multiple curriculum plans,” he said, noting the difficulty for teachers to manage the educational needs and requirements of students in both in-classroom and online in a continuous learning environment.

The online options and masks were discussed again at a special meeting earlier this week (Monday, July 20). A decision on the online issue was tabled. However, a motion was passed at the special meeting stating “masks are expected to be worn at all times,” instead of “highly encouraged or recommended” as previously considered.

Embray discussed mask requirements with the district’s legal counsel but could not come up with an enforcement plan that did not violate free speech rights for students established in the 1969 landmark case, Tinker vs. Board of Education.

A mask requirement would put Glenwood in a “legal limbo” that could open the district up to litigation.

“We can’t require them because our legal people are telling us we can’t require them,” Embray said. “When they (students) don’t or won’t wear them, what is the outcome? Schools can’t deny students schooling if they don’t wear them.”

The superintendent said he’s received emails from parents who have said they will open enroll their student out of the district if masks are mandatory.

As written, now the district’s plan “expects” masks to be worn by staff and students in grades 3-12 in buildings. Masks may be a requirement for students while riding on school buses. More than 8,000 masks have been purchased by the district. However, the district is asking families to provide their own masks for their children.

Becker, the lone board member to wear a mask during last week’s meeting, was also the only member to speak out in favor of a mask requirement. His motion to require masks, made at this week’s special meeting, failed to pass.

Embray stressed the district’s plan is “granular” and guidance and recommendations will continue to evolve. The administration team, he said, is still devising plans for how recess, lunch scheduling, staff and student sick days, truancy and the looming fall sports season will operate.

Parents Weigh In On GCSD ‘Return to Learn’ Proposal

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