Plan includes on-site, remote learning

The Whitefish School District board today will vote on a plan to transition into fully reopening schools that has students doing a combination of on-site and remote learning for the first month.

The length of that transition was extended from an initial two-week plan to five weeks.

From Aug. 26 through Sept. 25, students will be divided into groups that will alternate days they attend class on-site. Students will be on campus twice a week and off campus three days a week.

On the two days students are scheduled to learn remotely, they will join their class in real-time online, which is referred to as “synchronous learning.” Once a week — Wednesdays — will be slated for students to work independently off campus and for teachers to hold regular office hours and provide individual support/intervention.

The school is set to open in phase 2 of a plan that limits group sizes to 50 people. The phased plan goes from zero to phase three. Phase zero is when school is closed and everyone participates in remote learning. Phase three is the closest to school resuming as normal, with no limitations on group size.

The aim of the transition is to reduce the number of students in buildings at one time. What schools hope to accomplish during the transition is to give students and staff time to learn and practice how the school day will operate on-site, with COVID-19 health and safety measures in place, and online as students learn how to navigate the virtual classroom if school closures go into effect again.

Beginning on Sept. 28, the intent is to have all students return to school for on-site instruction every day, according to the district. Returning completely to on-site instruction, however, is dependent on the health of the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools around the valley have emphasized that plans are subject to change as new information is received.

“With this transition plan we are working from a model that we hope will allow for our students to be on campus as much as possible for the longest period of time possible without having to go to a complete remote model,” the Whitefish district stated in its recommendation to the board.

When parent Matt Smith received an Aug. 12 letter from Whitefish Middle School updating families on the extended transition plan, he was concerned about what burden alternating days of remote instruction would place on parents and how it would impact students both academically and socially.

“I do believe it to be vitally important for the school to have strong measures in place should remote classes be suggested or mandated by our Health Department, the CDC or our Governor. However, at this time I believe our children should have the opportunity to be in class, learning with their peers daily. The fact is, much of the information that I have read states that it is much healthier for kids to start getting back to normal,” Smith wrote in an email to the Daily Inter Lake, which he planned to post to social media and encourage parents to attend the virtual board meeting.

“The decision by the Whitefish School Board to force parents to stay at home, adding further stress to an already stressful time, is being done without proper merit,” he later stated in the email. “If there becomes such a time that an outbreak occurs and our Governor or Health Department suggests or mandates remote classes, my support will be to follow suit. However, at this time, no such outbreak is occurring, and no such suggestion or mandate exists.”

Also on the agenda is discussion of what indicators the district will use both internally and externally on monitoring COVID-19 cases in deciding if a classroom, grade level or building may be temporarily closed in consultation with the Flathead City-County Health Department.

Whitefish plans to share Flathead City-County Health Department’s “COVID-19 Community Indicator Dashboard,” which was launched earlier this month. The dashboard centralizes data already collected by the health department into a framework to help give the public context to case numbers in showing how the community is faring during the pandemic according to Kerry Nuckles, Flathead City-County Health Department deputy health officer.

The dashboard shows the county’s capacity status in the areas of case investigation, health-care system and testing in addition to the “level of community concern,” which is based on how many calls the health department receives.

In addition to the dashboard, the board will discuss school district indicators on a building and district level by looking at the following: average concerned cases sent home; average quarantined (from health department); average positive cases (from health department); and number of substitutes needed.

The virtual school board meeting begins at 7 p.m. The public may join by visiting https://meet.google.com/hpv-wrte-xqy, or calling 1-773-280-5298 and using the pin number: 670492374#.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.