MAHOMET — Teachers who spoke during Mahomet-Seymour’s marathon school board meeting left little doubt about where they stood on a proposal to switch to five-day in-person instruction for grades 6-12 that would require hiring an outside firm to conduct remote learning.
Several teachers representing their grade levels said they did not want to see the change.
Members of the public, however, were mixed in their comments.
The board voted 4-3 against the proposal during a meeting that stretched past midnight Monday.
Concerns expressed by the teachers included the inability of students to adequately distance themselves from each other.
Also, students would be largely confined indoors for 51/2 hours, which goes against studies that show children learn better when they have an “active day” and aren’t stuck indoors.
Teachers were concerned about the health and safety of students and staff, and about disregarding state and county health guidelines.
Teachers decried comments made in September that they are being paid full-time for working part-time hours. They said the opposite is the case, that some are having to work 70- to 80-hour weeks because they have to teach both in-person and remotely.
Some teachers also said they need the Monday of no school for planning.
Several students and adults spoke against the plan because it would mean children learning remotely from someone they don’t know and that they want to retain their current teachers.
A preschool teacher said social distancing is difficult for students, who also don’t always keep their face masks on. They also need help using the bathroom, and some need to be lifted.
One parent who spoke in favor of the five-day plan discussed the economics of lost education.
“It is real,” he said, noting a study found that each additional year of education raises an individual’s pay by 10 percent.
Another parent said a while a five-day in-school plan is preferable, public safety shouldn’t be risked for a few more hours of in-person instruction,
A parent said many students are struggling with the current hybrid model of Monday off and two days of in-person instruction and two days of remote learning.
Another parent said the school board is following “a chaotic pattern” of saying it respects teachers’ professionalism and then ignoring it.
A parent said her children have experienced generalized anxiety, emotional meltdowns and frustration trying to learn using the remote method. She asked for a return to five-day, in-person instruction. especially with COVID-19 case numbers climbing in 33 states.
“Higher case rates are ahead,” the parent said.
Another parent said his children chose all-remote learning because they didn’t want to compromise the health of their 87-year-old grandmother.
“What we have done has largely worked,” he said, adding that the five-day plan will more than double the density of students in the school, and some of the remote learners would be compelled to switch to in-school learning if they have to deal with an outside company teaching them.
Board members Merle Giles, Ken Keefe, Colleen Schultz and Meghan Henry voted against changing to the five-day plan, which would have taken effect at the start of the second semester.
Jeremy Henrichs, Lori Larson and Max McComb voted for it.
The board also voted down a proposal to continue with the hybrid plan currently being used but directed the administration to conduct a survey and determine how to improve it.
The board last month voted to approve a four-day in-school instruction plan that would begin in January.
McComb, the board president, said parents had sent numerous emails on the proposal, and their opinions were evenly split.
“We had representatives of all different philosophies of what we should be doing,” McComb said. “Most of those parents were just good people who were concerned about their kids, I think.”
He said he was concerned that some comments made by the public about teachers “were pretty judgmental.”
“I think that’s unfortunate,” he said. “Teachers are generally concerned. We need to do our best to try to understand each other here.”
He said many students have struggled academically under the current hybrid plan, with double and triple the number of D’s and F’s among junior high and high school students, respectively.
Pros listed for the five-day-a-week in-person instruction with remote learning outsourced included:
• Remote learning would no longer have to be done by M-S teachers
• Mondays would not be needed for planning/collaboration for remote students.
• A staff member would be needed solely dedicated to remote learning (this will be needed the second semester regardless of what plan the district uses)
Cons listed for the plan include:
• Remote learners are not engaged with M-S teachers and students
• The cost of remote learning would be higher, estimated at $250,000
• Outsourcing does not cover all classes M-S offers (about 90 percent)
• The district will need a staff member solely dedicated to overseeing remote learning
• M-S teachers are still planning for in-person students in quarantine
• The choice must be made for the semester for planning purposes with no flexibility.
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October 21, 2020 at 07:45PM
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Coronavirus response | Mahomet-Seymour school board nixes five-day plan - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette
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