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Edmond Public Schools will move to four days per week of in-person instruction
Edmond children are, mostly, returning to the classroom.
The Edmond Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Monday evening to transition to four days per week of in-person instruction, replacing the A/B schedule, which had students on campus twice a week.
Wednesdays will remain virtual, allowing teachers time to prepare lessons for students in quarantine.
During the meeting, Superintendent Bret Towne explained why this was necessary.
“Doubling the amount of students back in the classroom causes the quarantines sometimes to be four and five times those of students on A/B,” Towne said. “The number of cases fluctuates just about equally, but the number of quarantines is exponentially larger when you’re coming back four or five days.”
Students currently participating in Virtual Edmond will continue to do so. This change affects students currently participating in the A/B schedule.
Elementary students will return beginning March 11, giving them two days to adjust to a new setting with twice as many students before spring break. All others will return March 22, the Monday following spring break. This is also the day the fourth nine weeks begins.
The time between the announcement and students’ return will be used to prepare for having twice as many students on campus at a time. Furniture that had been cleared out will be returned, and the child nutrition department needs at minimum 10 days to order the necessary food. The district will also need time to hire additional faculty.
The board decided to make this transition because three main concerns it had about returning had been addressed, according to a letter sent to parents.
“The CDC released updated guidelines and protocols on how and when to safely return to in-person learning for our students,” the letter read. “We began vaccinating thousands of staff members, and local Covid-19 transmission rates have shown a steady decline. The rate last Friday in Oklahoma County was 16.6 cases per 100,000; this is a rate of cases not seen since mid-September.”
If a child has a medical situation within his or her family which would make it less advisable to return to four-day in-person instruction, there are options within the elementary and middle school levels. Elementary students may transfer to Virtual Edmond. Middle school students would have an option called co-seating. A student would be able to virtually watch a broadcast of a class rather than being physically present.
Towne said high school students would not be able to transfer to the APEX curriculum because they would not have time to start and finish the online courses offered and receive credit. The high school principles are working to determine what other options may be possible for their students.
Prior to the vote, the floor opened for public comment. Six parents chose to speak. Five advocated for a full five-day week of in-person instruction. The last to speak asked for the choice to remain on the A/B schedule, or at least have a system that follows CDC guidelines more so than a full week of in-person instruction.
As the board discussed the issue, members of the audience interjected at times, mostly to criticize the board. As the motion to vote on a four-day week was presented, shouts of “Five! Five days!” could be heard, followed by “You’re a joke!”