- April 25, 2024
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Parents whose remote-learning children are at risk of failing a required class are getting letters from the school district stating that their children "must" return to in-person classes. But that "must" is misleading: Parents with an outstanding reason for keeping their children in remote learning can sign a waiver and continue to do so.
The letters from the district use language mirroring that in a state mandate that says students "must transition to another learning modality if they fail to make adequate progress," district staff members explained in a Dec. 15 Flagler County School Board workshop.
But the state edict also allows parents or guardians to keep their child in remote learning by signing a form acknowledging the risks — for instance, that the child may be held back a grade level or not graduate on time if they fail a required class.
Earlier this year, Flagler Schools Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt said, the district identified about 1,450 remote- or distance-learning students who were making "inadequate progress" — getting Ds's or F's.
This spring, the district will create a system to identify D- and F-students who are remaining in remote-learning, as well as in-person students who've been consistently truant, and will have staff — and then, if needed, social workers — makes three attempts to reach their families and link the students to supportive resources, said Earl Johnson, the district's executive director of Student and Community Engagement and Operations.
With the exception of the state-mandated letters, Flagler Schools' spring semester 2021 semester will look much like its fall 2020 semester. The district will continue to offer in-person, remote-live and distance-learning options for students.
"The essence of the [state] order is that we as a district need to be obligated and mindful with a deliberate effort of making sure our students are making adequate academic progress," Mittelstadt said.
All district schools will continue to offer in-person classes in the spring.
The district expects some regression in student progress as a result of the pandemic, but it's not yet clear how severe it will be, a staff member said at the workshop.
As some students with academic issues return to the classroom, the district expects student enrollment in on-campus classes to increase this spring. That will require a reshuffling of teacher and staff member responsibilities.
Board member Colleen Conklin worried about how the shift might affect teachers.
"Most of the teachers — actually, all of the teachers that I’ve spoken to — want their kids back in the classroom, but they don’t want to be doing double-duty," teaching remote-live and in-person at the same time, she said.
Board member Jill Woolbright said a shift in favor of more on-campus students might mean that fewer teachers have to teach both modalities at once.
"As kids come back, that's going to take care of itself," she said.
Board member Janet McDonald said she was interested in learning more about successes in remote learning, so that strategies that are working can be used more broadly.
