A proposal to adopt a hybrid-model schedule for the upcoming school year at Daviess County Public Schools is expected to be presented during Thursday’s Board of Education meeting. A revised start date may also be considered.
A draft of a proposal was sent to staff members Sunday morning in an email from Superintendent Matt Robbins. In a statement sent to Owensboro Times, Robbins made it clear the details in the proposal were only a draft.
Details could be changed ahead of Thursday’s meeting, and nothing will be finalized before the board makes a final decision.
“This is a draft document intended to keep our DCPS team informed about the thought process involved with making decisions for the 2020-21 school year,” the statement from Robbins reads. “Nothing has been decided and we are still in the process of evaluating input from families, other districts and public health experts. As with any draft, plans may change or be altered until time of presentation to the Board of Education and based on their decision. We remain committed to keeping our staff as well as our families informed as we move toward creating the best possible plan for teaching and learning for our students.”
A copy of the email containing the draft of the proposal was shared with Owensboro Times by multiple sources.
According to the email, the proposal includes 40% of students attending in-person classes Monday and Tuesday, 40% attending in-person classes Thursday and Friday, and the remaining 20% utilizing the virtual-only option for at least the fall semester. No students would attend in-person classes on Wednesdays, which would be used as a deep-cleaning day.
Robbins said in the email that officials with DCPS are also now considering starting school on Aug. 24 rather than the previously announced date of Aug. 26 to. The new date may be included in his Thursday recommendation to the Board, according to the email.
The email also addressed childcare concerns — saying the district was looking into solutions for both employees and non-employees with children at DCPS — as well as new safety protocol that would be implemented.
The email explained DCPS has faced challenges in developing reopening plans because information changes quickly.
“To illustrate my point, just 10 days ago, we were set to reopen schools on a full, five day per week in-person plan along with a provision offering virtual academies,” Robbins wrote in the email. “Oftentimes, we can become so accustomed to ‘solving the problem’ that we can behave with tunnel vision. I will attest that this happened to me. I then began to return to the problem itself: The “Why” behind all the madness.”
He explained the “why” is COVID-19 and an appropriate response from DCPS. Case numbers are on the rise locally, and on Sunday afternoon Gov. Andy Beshear announced nearly 1,000 cases statewide — the largest single-day increase so far in Kentucky.
“This was not the climate in which we were originally supposed to fully open schools in Fall 2020,” Robbins’ email reads. “With this understood, I felt we needed to make an adjustment. The mindshift is that we must adjust to the virus; it will not adjust to us. Running head first to fight this virus without medical science by our side is not a winning proposition. Nevertheless, I remain devoted to the belief that our kids need us, our families need us, and our community needs us.”
Robbins wrote that with safety as the top priority, he began to develop the hybrid plan, which he said “reduces the number of students we see in person by 50% per day.”
DCPS previously sent out a survey to parents regarding the reopening of schools. Robbins wrote in the email that with more than 4,200 responses so far, approximately 20% of parents preferred the virtual option — which remains as part of their plan.
That leaves roughly 80% of students to attend school in person utilizing an A/B Schedule.
“This will allow the following critical pieces to be safer than our original plan: school buses; before/after school; classrooms, hallways, and cafeterias,” the email reads.
According to the email, the proposed schedule is as follows:
“Group A attends school in person on Mondays and Tuesdays, Group B attends school in person on Thursdays and Fridays. ALL students will be virtual/remote learners on Wednesday. Wednesdays will also be a deep cleaning day at schools and on buses between the A and B in-person groups. On the days students are not with us in person, they will be virtual/remote learners (i.e. Group A students will be engaged with remote learning days on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday … Group B will be engaged with remote learning days on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). Students would be assigned to an A or B schedule by household (all kids in the family on the same schedule via Infinite Campus software tool).”
Robbins wrote that the schedule allows DCPS to quickly alternate upward to a five-day model or downward to a full virtual/remote learning model termed as “Integrated-Instructional Design,” depending on the status of COVID-19 in our community/state.
The email explained a major downside of the A/B schedule relates to childcare, both for employees and non-employees with children at DCPS.
“We are exploring a plan to appropriately consider all DCPS employees as ‘essential workers’ and we are closely examining options to provide on-site childcare for K-5 children of our employees,” part of the email reads. “This service would be provided on days your own children are not in school based on their assigned A/B schedule and would be a pay-for-service model. Furthermore, we are working within the community to expand childcare options for parents who are not DCPS employees as we know this is a significant concern for them as well. The promise is that we will make a full, earnest effort to achieve these goals, however the outcome is yet to be determined.”
Robbins’ email also noted that there would be extensive safety measures in place for those on campus.
That includes daily temperature checks and pre-screening of all students and staff, hand sanitizer stations in classrooms and high traffic areas. He said adequate PPE has been procured, and some groups of employees will be provided with additional protections and precautions.
Wearing a face covering will be a requirement for all students and staff. Robbins wrote that guidelines will help define some opportunities where masks may not be required due to their schedule choice (i.e. anywhere they can be physically distanced in smaller groups).
“We need all of our seating to be physically distanced with the desire that each classroom will hopefully have 15 or fewer students by design,” his email reads.
Robbins said staff could expect continued and regular communications provided from the district over the next week and beyond. Details are still in progress — as those are finalized, communication will shortly follow.
“We must remain committed, flexible, and nimble as the virus demands this of us,” Robbins wrote in the email. “It does not care about our emotions, thoughts, needs or opinions. … I need everyone’s full 100% commitment to try to find hope and optimism even in the midst of pessimism. I am convinced that we are “Better Together” and #TeamDCPS will #RiseUp to continue allowing our Kids to be First!”
