This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
03/24/2020 12:00 AMFollowing new issuances from the state Department of Education, Guilford public schools are reevaluating how they will be conducting remote learning, with the anticipation that the type of instruction being conducted will count toward the district’s minimum instructional requirement and put the district potentially on track to finish the school year sometime before June 30.
In conversations with the Courier, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Freeman repeatedly emphasized that absolutely nothing was set in stone, and the district does not have a calendar yet.
Due to the state relaxing the conditions by which remote or distance instruction is substituted for face-to-face, in-person school days due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, however, Freeman said the schools are moving forward with the expectation that teachers may be able to reach these new goals.
After initially offering “supplemental learning” that was entirely optional based on earlier guidance from the state, Freeman said teachers now expect students to engage more directly with material beginning this week.
“We’re going to be growing into this,” Freeman said. “We have never asked our teachers to engage with students in this way, and so I think we’re going to be starting relatively small and safe, and I think we’re going to be growing into this the longer we’re in this environment.”
Though Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont had earlier waived the 180-day school year requirement, many districts around the state were still expected to do everything reasonably possible to meet that number this year, no matter how many in-person days were lost to the current shutdown.
As the pandemic has progressed, however, it has become increasingly clear that schools will be shut for more than a couple weeks. Guilford teachers began preparing for the eventuality that they would have to conduct classes remotely more than a week before the closure, according to Freeman, including spending at least two in-person sessions before the schools shuttered and another day this past week remotely.
What the remote learning will look like varies widely by grade and class, Freeman said, and can include synchronous lessons—things like audio or video chat, as well as virtual office hours with teachers. Resources are also being distributed to parents, particularly those of elementary school children, to help them assist their children in facilitating all these new learning methods and the software that goes along with them, according to Freeman.
Even the days last week that were initially presented as optional learning days may be counted, according to Freeman, based on the state’s new guidelines,
Though Freeman said he was “working toward” a potential last day of school on June 17, he again emphasized the district has no confirmation that this is possible, and that circumstances that are changing every day could affect that date in a myriad of ways.
“I don’t think the governor is done issuing executive orders or requirements...I think we’re going to see more changes here in Connecticut before we’re done,” Freeman said.
Outside of academics, Freeman said the district began distributing meals to the families of students last week, with 226 on the first day. That program is open to any family of any student at no charge, according to the district’s website.
Meals are put together by regular cafeteria staff at Guilford High School, according to Freeman, and the district has also provided a free delivery service for those families who cannot pick up the meals.
Freeman said the district is considering adding another meal pick-up location, which will help stave off potential crowding issues and help make distribution more efficient.
Those families of Guilford students interested in the program can visit www.guilfordschools.org.