Public schools in Owensboro-Daviess County will not begin in-person classes until at least Oct. 12. Following the announcements Tuesday, Superintendents Matthew Constant (OPS) and Matt Robbins (DCPS) addressed the reasoning behind the decisions as well as some of the details moving forward.
See the full plans for OPS here and for DCPS here.
Choosing Oct. 12
Gov. Andy Beshear’s recommendation Monday was schools wait until Sept. 28 to begin in-person classes. Both Owensboro and Daviess County public schools had already scheduled Fall Break for Oct. 5-9. Rather than come back for a week and then go on break, both decided it would be best to continue virtual learning for all students the week of Sept. 28.
Structure of NTI (not Virtual Academy)
Constant: All students can expect contact from a teacher four days a week — it will be a virtual contact, of course. One day a week, on Wednesdays, the teachers will gather and plan together so that they can be ready for the new kind of instruction that needs to take place based on the virtual atmosphere that we’re in.
Robbins: We’ll have a five-day instructional period. We plan to utilize an NTI/remote learning plan that resembles our Virtual Academy which we’ve held constant. The reason we’ve held that constant is because that group made a conscientious decision they wanted to go virtual … so if we return to in-person we would really disrupt that.
NTI this fall compared to NTI last spring
Both school districts have made it clear that NTI this fall will look much differently than it did in spring. Because there was no warning in March, the remainder of the school year was largely review-type work.
Now, with plenty of time to prepare and using the spring as a learning experience, both school districts have developed in-depth distance learning plans that will include new content and rigorous coursework. It will also include a daily schedule in which students will be held accountable for checking in, and new tools will be utilized to help facilitate learning.
Need for computers
Constant: For all of this instruction, we really need students to have a device. We’re working hard at the district level to provide that device for the students. We have an inventory on hand that we’re going to be able to say from K-12, we’ll be able to give a device to most all of those learners.
Robbins: If it’s video-based or if we’re doing Google Meet it can be used even on a cellphone, but there is a need for a Chromebook for the child to fully participate. We would love the ability, if we’re allowed, to bring in small groups of children at different levels to have the chance to work within the very safe but small fashion. We’re working with the Kentucky Department of Education on what’s going to be permitted.
Lack of internet access
Constant: We have reached out to another vendor and they have provided some hot spots for us. We are assessing the needs of our families right now and determining if the need is really there, we can help provide a hot spot for those families.
Robbins: We have identified our special populations that need that extra care and support. We are looking for opportunities to bridge that gap for those who do not have internet access. One of the good things is we were able to capture that in a survey we did with our parents, so we know which children — it’s roughly 8% of our total population — do not have adequate home internet access.
Switching between in-person learning and Virtual Academy
Students and families have already chosen whether they want to utilize the in-person learning method (when it becomes available) or the Virtual Academy. The deadline to switch has passed for both school districts and is not affected by the new start plans.
Conditions to begin in-person learning
Both Constant and Robbins said it is essentially up to the state to make a recommendation on when to begin in-person classes. Data is not available at a local level in terms of positivity rates because negative test results are not required to be given to the local health department — meaning guidelines are issued on a statewide basis.
Robbins said he and the DCPS Board of Education are hoping to meet with state officials in the coming days to advocate for the plan they spent so much time developing in coordination with various levels of health experts. While he knows there may be no results from their presentation, he felt it’s important state officials know how much effort went into developing a plan to allow students to return to school safely in even a limited capacity.
Child care options
Prior to the announcement to delay in-person classes, both school districts had been working closely with the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce to find child care options. They are continuing to work with the Chamber to develop new plans.
Constant: We are still working with the Chamber. It becomes more of a need for child care than it was because we were looking at a three-day-a-week need, now we’re probably looking at a five-day-a-week need for some of our families, most of our families. … We would transition so that we could have more intensive instruction for four days a week rather than the two days a week. When we were going to the A/B model, we thought it would be more of a short-term solution. This is looking like it’s more of a longer-term solution.
Robbins: Kudos to the Chamber of Commerce and Candance Brake for beginning to work with us early on once we started to look at the A/B model change. We knew that child care was a significant need at that point. We talked to them about a situation (i.e. the “red light” model we developed) that would mean instead of a little less-intensive need, we would have a little more-intensive childcare need. … We don’t want to overpromise and under deliver. We hope there is an opportunity to expand this. I feel encouraged about an expansion I just don’t know to what extent.
Sports update
Constant and Robbins both said the decision on fall sports will come from KHSAA, which currently has a meeting scheduled for Aug. 20 to discuss the next steps to take.
Next update for families
Constant: In our original reopen plan, we set Sept. 18 as another communication point for our families so that we could let them know what would happen after Fall Break. We still intend to honor that Sept. 18 deadline and let them know at that point, based on where we are with health and safety data and such, about what will happen after Fall Break.
Robbins: I think what is very dependable here is ahead of the Sept. 28 date we will receive guidance from the governor and his office. They have been very consistent about doing that. I think that ahead of Sept. 28 we will find what’s the likelihood of beginning in-person school and then based on that information we would be able to get out our information to parents and the public.
